Svetlana,

That looks like classic mige fly maggot damage. I hope I am wrong. It is a pestilence in many parts of the USA.

The female midge fly lays her egg(s) on growing tips of roses. The maggots, which are extremely small, eat the tender growing tips, the tip stops growing and dries up. No flowers come from that tip.

Sometimes a growing tip that already has formed tiny buds will be discovered by the female midge fly. She still deposits her eggs there. The subsequent maggots that hatch munch on the most tender parts available which results in deformed buds, crooked bud necks, and weakened developing leaves that stop growing, dry up, and turn crispy. Buds usually fall off, but those that are only partially damaged, continue to grow, but end up being grossly deformed blooms.

These damaged, more advanced growing tips look like they were scorched with a lit match. The damaged, dry parts crumble between your fingers.

I am not aware of the presence of midge fly in Sweden. If I am correct, and it is present, I am sorry for that. There is a battle royale raging against midge fly in my garden.

Moses

Thank you. Omg how gross if you´re right, i´ll see if i can translate that to swedish and read more.

Are you using any chemicals for this? Should i cut those parts off?

That was my first thought also... Hopefully its not... But try to find out if you have Rose Midge in Sweden Svetlana....

Rose midge damage exactly the same thing as what I was finding on my poor little roses today. Hey guys is there any chance that flower thrips could do this.

That’s rose midge damage for sure. I am having the same problem in both of my gardens, zone 6a and 5b.

How do you all treat that? And do they spread from one rose to another if no contact between roses??

Im so tired of all these rose problems this year.

Yes, they will spread to other roses since the adult fly can travel long distances, and they will spread quickly because the lifecycle is so short/fast. The only treatment that works for me is pesticides containing Cyfluthrin, both a spray for the leaves and buds and granules for the soil beneath and around the bushes. Bayer makes both. Good luck.

Well this is doomed, i might as well trash those sick ones so at least my other potted roses will bloom. They dont seem to sell this kind of spray in my country..

Svetiana, I don’t use pesticides in my garden. There are some other ways to wage war with midge. If you do not mind I’ll come back tomorrow with what works fairly well for me. Maybe someone can find the blue cup thread and provide a link. If not I’ll try tomorrow.

You can find more information here about blue cup to treat midge and thrisp:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3816744/omg-blue-cup-thrips-control-actually-works?n=96

I use Bayer 2-in-1 Systemic Rose and Flower Care , Walmart has it for $11.99.

I can tell you what info is out there in my country online, IF its something called "Rosenbladstekel" in my language. Here are google pics on "Rosenbladstekel".

https://www.google.se/search?q=rosenbladstekel&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXo7iA-dXbAhURyKYKHYKoDWoQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=606

They say spraying those insects doesnt do much since they´re INSIDE of a stem or bud. That does make sence.. but sad. I would of liked to sprayed them the heck off. Instead the only advice thats given in SWEDEN, is to cut of the affected parts. Thats sad but thats why i did, plus i divided the roses into two different balconies to try minimize the spread. I think its aldready spread thou. And i the other balcony is in complete shade they probably wont do well.

Is blue or yellow helping against midge (thats inside the stem)? Something is also eating on the leaves but i dont see any bugs.

Svetlana, I have had the same problem as you and I use bayer products to treat them. I don't like using them, but it simply is the only thing that works for me. Don't trash the roses please!!! You'd be amazed at how one spraying can very quickly turn things around and save them.

Streisand Fan, in Sweden we dont seem to have sprays that can manage Midge larvae. I have a spray but its for other rose insects. But once again, if you have midge you know INSIDE the canes or inside buds, how does the spray get to them? :s

If you read my previous i wrote what i did for now. But i will get mad at them if they dont start grow now that i cut of damaged parts. Wont trash them yet. I´ll also give all roses a spray, IN CASE it would help. Got this spray: http://www.neudorff.co.uk/products/pyrol-bug-larvae-killer.html

Svetlana,

Bad advice, bad information.

Midge fly maggots do not burrow into the very growing tip, they graze the tip's surface growth, obscured behind little leafy segments around the tip, disabling the tips further development. Spraying with a systemic insecticide listed to kill rose midge fly saturates the tip, killing the maggots on contact that may be there, and is absorbed into the tip's tissue.

The insecticide absorbed tissue poisons any midge maggot hatching later as they begin to graze on it. These later maggots appear on a previously sprayed tip, hatching from eggs that were deposited there after the spraying session. These late comers die too soon to do any appreciable damage.

Cutting the tips off is completely pointless! Once you see the damage, the maggots almost always have already dropped off the tip, falling to the soil surface where they pupate into adults, increasing the midge population. The population is not reduced, but enlarged! Well, it does make you feel good that you did something, although ineffective in substantially reducing the midge fly population.

Of course, once the tip is damaged you must prune it back to a thicker part of the damaged stem so that any new growth made comes from a sturdy origin.

Also, just cutting off affected tips does not stop midge fly females from neighbor's infested roses from flying into your garden, to infest your roses.

I have found hybrid rugosas, especially those varieties having strong rugosa characteristics, to be almost rose midge fly immune. Either they do not give off the correct scent trail to guide the midge fly females to their growing tips, or once arriving at the tips, the females are confused by the fluffy, leafy hybrid rugosa tip, and leave the tip since it did not 'feel right,'.

I think there is a scent trail used by the midge fly female, then the sense of touch to make sure it feels like a rose growing tip, before she deposits her eggs. If it doesn't smell right nor feel right, no egg laying occurs there.

Once blooming roses, many of the OGRs, often grow the minimally required pea size buds, before the midge hatch out in the spring. Therefore the green buds are passed over by the midge fly, and continue enlarging to bloom undamaged. The later vegetative, non-blooming growth they make afterwards, gets midged, but enough other healthy growth, or long enough growth, is made so that spring flowering next year is relatively uneffected by the previous year's midge damaged growth.

Moses

Ok then im not sure what i have, rose midge or the Swedish insects Rosenbladstekel. And advices are different. So i dont know then what to think and do. Sounds like one should also change the upper layer of the soil? You didnt give any suggestions, i appreciate your info thou. The worst rose bc of this is Nostalgie, and i cant find it in a store now, im even considering stealing or switching out my Nostalgie for another Nostalgie rose in the neighbourhood. Its not from a house, its kind of public roses, boy am i desperate, thats no good.

Oh really, i thought we had chemical pesticide here, somethine i had a few years ago. But im not sure what the ingredients were thou.

I dont have a garden, just a balcony on the second floor, so i dont know if ladybugs and good bugs will find my plants..? But anyway, a swedish member thinks that its not rose midge nor rosenbladstekel. But what it is is a mystery. Perhaps i fertilized too much, i didnt think it would hurt.

I saw something white in the soil the other day, on a couple of the roses. Looked like pieces of snow or salt. I thought that could be from the insect spray i sprayed the other day.. but perhaps its excess fertilizer.

Europe is way ahead of the US in terms of pesticides, herbicides, food additives, and generally everything. It's like the Wild West here in the United States. Things that are banned in Europe are still used here. We need to get into the 21st century in terms of what is a health hazard. (but that's not going to happen for at least 3 more years) if you know what I mean.

Donna R However we do have "harmful" insect sprays for bugs like ants and flies.

The bottle says its harmful to breath in, one should leave the room and open windows for a while, and when the spray is gone from the air after a while you can come in again, so yep that spray i have isnt harmless. I dont know about other countries thou, just wanted to add that.

Or perhaps some regulation recently changed, but the bug spray i got from a few years ago is strong and oldschool.

Svetlana, do you have Walmart over there?

No we dont.