I think you should stop spraying. Your weather is probably very hot...and your plant is young. That's too much stress on it. What is the soil like...it doesn't seem very loamy.

Thank you for your suggestion. I’ve been spraying close to 4 weeks now and it seems to be getting worse. We have sandy soil .

I'm just a beginner of a few years with roses and I will tell you what has worked for me. I live in the humid South, with sandy soil.

I've tried roses of different root stocks and from different nurseries from different states but here what I found works very well for me. 1) I used earthworm castings to line the hole for the new rose plants, and topped it off with the same. It's hard to source on a good year at a reasonable price but with Covid, it's been impossible (it comes from MI) to find. You can substitute the earthworm castings with a top notch black compost/top soil. Sand is not much of a friend for growing roses (my experience) so you must fortify the sand with dark soil for the amendment. 2) I used liquid 3-in-1 rose fertilizer to help boost the strengths of all my roses this year, new or otherwise per the instructions (I used the one made by Bio-advanced with tremendous success) Granted I started in February and ended in May with once/month feedings and I stopped spraying completely. When healthy, the growth of the rose plants is truly amazing along with noticeable ability to come back from disease like black spots with vigor and new growth and replacement leaves.

This is what has worked well for me.

Thank you for the wonderful tips!!! I did use in-ground garden soil for roses when we planted them. Should I use the 3-in-1 rose fertilizer now? Even if roses are stressed?

Will do! Thank you!

I've also read Iceberg hates pruning and pruning increases disease on it.

Good advice here!

sounds like you are doing most of the current damage.. by spraying them much too often .. especially if you are spraying in sun or heat ...

on some level.. it seems like this is in line with the often stated ... loving a plant to its detriment ...

i highly agree on mulch.. so soil and soil pathogens dont fly up onto the plant ...

ken

I only sprayed during the evening when it cooled down.

I’m off to buy mulch today 👍🏻

Thank you for the tips

Thanks for everyone’s advice! I stopped spraying and added mulch. Roses seem very happy now and no more yellow black spots on leaves 🙌🏻

Hi DVS:

What are the three things in the 3 in 1 fertilizer that you use?

I see you have had tremendous success with it. I’ve been hearing that phrase a lot recently, and I feel I should have some.

one other thing that contributes to rose problems.. is lawn irrigation .. continuously wetting the leaves ... so if you have such ... do not spray your flower beds ... adjust your sprinklers heads ... and find alternatives for watering those ...

also ... water shortens the life of individual flowers ...

ken

This may be a dumb question - but in reading this thread - am I supposed to use something besides the alfalfa tea and the fish fertilizer? I have compost around each shrub but I don't use regular fertilizer. Should I?

Where in Zone 9 Central California are you? The sun intensity and the heat levels in most of California (and the West, in general) are too great this time of year to spray ANYTHING other than water. It doesn't matter whether you sprayed at dusk or the middle of the night. Neem is an oil. Once applied to a surface, it remains until it is washed off or eventually wears off. Brilliant sun and any real heat can easily cook the foliage and new, soft growth when treated with any oil. DON'T SPRAY ANYTHING. PERIOD. Keep them watered appropriately for the heat, wind, sun levels and drainage you have. If you want to fertilize, then follow the instructions on the label of whatever you decide to use. Believe it or not, you really don't HAVE to fertilize. I grow several hundred containerized roses here in Zone 9b on the Central California Coast between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo and I don't usually fertilize. I simply water. I don't generally have disease issues and if any start, I pay attention to the water. MOST roses can be forced to contract fungal issues if they experience sufficient water stress. If rust or mildew starts, I increase the water and it most often stops. To get slower things started, such as own root Teas and Tea Noisettes, I occasionally use All Purpose water soluble Miracle Gro or Vigoro, which is very similar and less expensive. I will sometimes use that weakly, weekly (instead of a tablespoon per gallon, I use a teaspoon per gallon and instead of every two weeks, I will use it weekly) to get things started, but not on a regular schedule. And, I NEVER use any fungicides nor pesticides on any of my plants. If a variety or one of my seedlings isn't healthy here in my conditions and the way I garden, out it goes. If insects appear, so do predatory insects and birds.

Just keep your Icebergs watered and quit over dosing their foliage with applied products. Once they become established and are allowed to grow, the most common problem they experience is mildew on the peduncles and flower stems when that is an issue. Otherwise, unless overly pruned, they are pretty healthy in California. They are all over town here and most are watered by the lawn sprinklers and public planting sprinklers and they are clean, healthy and full of flowers.

I have to agree with Kim (roseseek). I stopped fertilizing years ago and don't notice any appreciable difference. The roses were mulched some time ago but a lot of that has worn away and the only thing replacing it are what I drop on the ground when dead-heading. I live in San Diego County, about 20 miles inland at 1700 feet in an area that has lots of reflective heat, and the most important thing for roses to thrive here is adequate water. Most of my roses have mid to late afternoon shade, which is also very beneficial for them. No doubt my roses would do better with more care and fertilizer, but since I'm unable to provide that they seem to muddle along fairly well nonetheless. The worst problem has been rabbits, roof rats and ground squirrels eating most of my companion plants and the lower parts of the roses, but the roses, for the most part, have responded by growing taller, out of their reach. They did kill all the newer roses that weren't tall enough. This particular problem began in the summer of 2018 and I think had to do with our prolonged drought.

Roseseek- thank you for all the useful information

You're welcome. I hope it helps. If you follow it, I think you will find growing roses SO much easier, simpler and less time consuming.

Roseseek - I was spraying those poor roses for 4 weeks thinking I was doing more good than harm! I’m very new to gardening so when I looked up black spots I came across spraying with a fungicide and well, the spots never went away so I’d figured just spray until it’s gone! 😖 big mistake! I guess it’s trial and error when it comes to gardening. Thankful for this app and everyone’s help!

The very first rule of using ANY chemical of any kind is to read the instructions and follow them. More damage is done by not reading and or not following the instructions than by not using them. Unfortunately, there are many garden chemicals available almost anywhere gardening supplies are sold that you can literally kill yourself with. I think once your plants are settled in and actively growing, you will be delighted at just how great they look with almost no interference by you. That's when it gets to be real FUN!