Software
Houzz Logo Print
jjkoc

Fertilization/Pruning schedule in SoCal

Thank you all in advance for entertaining a newbie question. I have been trying to figure out whether I need to give a high-K fertilizer in the next month or so to my roses to get them prepared for dormancy here in SoCal.


I read recommendations to give a high-potassium fertilizer in the late fall, which causes leaves to drop, then January prune and defoliate and clean up the area around the roses, and apply horticultural spray, and then apply rose food, spread compost, and mulch by February.


Is this all appropriate for SoCal. I am moving my container roses into the prepared ground in January, and want to know if the high-K fertilizer applies to container roses. I also am not quite sure what horticultural spray to use. I read it serves to kill insect eggs and fungal spores, but is there a brand that I should be getting?


Do I treat roses of every class with the above protocol? Tea roses? Floribundas? Hybrid Musks?


I am not not looking forward to defoliating my Julia Child... it has the nicest leaves and largest thorns of my humble collection.


Thank you all for your thoughts! I apologize if this is a very beginner question...

Comments (5)

  • 6 years ago

    I doubt the spraying is necessary where you are jjk. I would just remove ugly leaves. Leave the Tea leaves if they look good. Teas don't go dormant. Here, north of you, I do cut off ugly leaves if they don't drop on their own during winter.

  • 6 years ago

    I agree with Sheila. Please don't worry -- your roses probably aren't going dormant -- at least not for some time, and not unless we get some real cold later in the year.

    At this time of the year, I would cut back on feeding . . . Or just quit. Keep them watered. Cut away any dead growth, and deadhead them, and leave them alone.

    If things go well, you should have lovely roses for your Thanksgiving and Christmas table.

    For roses in pots -- the advice is more or less the same. Just make sure that you don't forget to water them -- unless we are blessed with some real rain. (I mean REAL rain! I got 4/100ths of an inch, the other day. That doesn't count!)

  • 6 years ago

    Unless we get an unusually cold winter - rare, but it can happen - you are unlikely to see much in the way of dormancy. You don't need to prepare in any special way. As Jeri suggested, keep watering until the seasonal rains take over for you.

  • 6 years ago

    I agree with everyone else's responses. Don't feed them, and don't spray them. Most will not go dormant at all in your climate - you have a 12 month "growing season". No need to force dormancy at all. Water. For the roses you are transplanting into the ground, same thing. Lots of water, as the roots will be somewhat damaged by the planting. Prune the potted roses you will be putting in the ground before you transplant them. Mulch is great. For heavens sake don't defoliate the roses! If you want, you can take off old/yellow leaves from last year, but leave the healthy ones alone.


    Pruning is of course necessary for hybrid teas and other modern roses, but I would just gently trim the hybrid musks - no hard pruning for them, or any other older classes of roses you might have.


    It is natural if you are not experienced to read all sorts of literature which is full of "rules" for growing roses. Stop reading it - most of it is written and meant for roses which grow in England or the Northeast US. Or, it is just ancient advice which has been proved to be wrong, but keeps being repeated. Keep asking questions on here! Lots of experienced rose growers, and many in your type of climate. We/they can give you good advice based on actual experience growing roses on the West Coast. The good news is that roses like our climate, and need WAY less care and fussing than they might in other places. So happy you found this forum!


    Jackie

  • 6 years ago

    Dec 16, 2018 Darcey Bussell. Bouquet of DB and Madame Alfred Carriere Jan 1, 2019. Then Golden Celebration on Feb 1st. These bloomed as much or more during the winter than they did during the hottest months of the summer. I never pulled off any leaves in winter/spring. They just made more leaves as they grew in Spring. I did a little mid summer plucking of older unsightly leaves, but mostly the old leaves turned yellow and fell off on their own mid summer.