Hi Diane, yes, my soil is slightly alkaline when I had it tested two years ago. I just looked back and it tested 7.1. I have already applied DA fertilizer and sprinkled alfalfa pellets down. Would I be overdoing it to apply the product you mentioned?

If yes, I do already have Espoma soil acidifier for my hydrangeas. Would that be suitable to sprinkle? I have read about iron chelate as a foliar application. Would that be suitable for this rose? I am happy to go to a nursery to get the right products, I just don’t want to apply the wrong things or good things, as it were, in too much quantities that will burn my rose up.

I think that's enough fertilizer for now. If the Espoma is strictly a soil acidifier and not a fertilizer, I'd use it this spring. See how that works (scratch it in). I don't think you have a severe case of chlorosis so far. My Ballerina rose, a hybrid musk, does not like alkaline soil, so it's often the only chorotic rose I grow, and only for a brief period. Diane

agree .. dont confuse a soil amendment with fertililzer ..

do one thing or the other.. and try to avoid products that do both .. because you are no longer in charge of the whole process ...

soil amending take years to make change .. so start a program of such.. and move toward your goal in that regard...

roses are heavy feeders.. and you should have a separate program for that .. since it need be done every 6 weeks or so ...

i would expect you state Ag college to have serious knowledge on soil issues if OK is all out of whack in this regard ... so talking to your local county Ag or extension office might find you local experts ..

yipperee : https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=ok+state+soil+testing&ia=web

dont fight alone.. when you have local peeps to help ...

one other thing ... no weather related events since they leafed out to add to this type of coloration.. just to cover all the bases .. no frosts or freezes??

ken

ps: what the deal with the picea pungens ??? to the right.. and the fence to the left ... i suspect this rose is going to have to be moved sooner or later ... and i wonder if its getting the requisite full sun roses love???

Thanks guys. We did have a mild freeze after some of the leaves had set on. Could it simply be a freeze? My other rose is about 15’ away and it’s not exhibiting anything similar but it’s a shrub not a climber. IDK if that makes a difference or not?

I’m attaching another pic in case it’s helpful. The newer leaves at the base are darker green. I read that this could also be a nitrogen deficiency, depending on the order of the leaves turning yellow? We do have cedar mulch which I read can deplete nitrogen do maybe that’s it instead? Or maybe we circle back to blaming the mild freeze?

Ken, it’s a dwarf globe blue spruce that you’re seeing. I decided to take a gamble to see if I could get this rose to work in this spot last year. I was ordering one rose and felt silly paying so much shipping for one so I added another to experiment with. JG is “supposed” to do well in shade so we’re trying the spot. It does get 4-6 hours depending on time of year.

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Here’s my results - I was wrong, this was 3 years ago.

If the rose is from DA, and grafted onto Dr. Huey, 7.1 is a perfectly reasonable, acceptable, fine, OK, decent (you get the idea) pH. It's high for something on multiflora, but I'm not sure who uses that besides the Canadians at this point. What is looks like to me is mild winterkill. I wouldn't do anything unless it starts affecting more of the rose. Either it will straighten itself out, or that cane will die off.

Now something that used to be talked about a fair amount here is chlorosis caused by spring waterlogging. Again, it was something that fixed itself given time.

Since the rest of the plant looks fine, I would not be in a big hurry to start fussing with amendments, supplements, and other things that may hurt more than they help.

BTW, my soil pH is 7.2, so I have a lot of experience with how things behave at the lower end of alkaline.

@mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY), I did buy the rose directly from DA. My other canes have yellowing leaves as well, I could take another picture tomorrow.

We did have quite a bit of rain a couple weeks ago. How much time would you give it? I read that if it’s iron chlorosis I need to treat it at some point or it can hurt/kill the rose. What’s a reasonable amount of time to wait before doing anything? I appreciate your help! Thank you.

I'd give things a month to dry out. Unless your soil is quite low in iron, it isn't likely to be iron chlorosis, and chlorosis takes years to kill a rose. The pH range for Dr. Huey (which is what DA uses) is something like 6.5 to 8.5. It's used partially because of its tolerance of highly alkaline soil. I agree the soil test verbage makes it sound like your pH is something that should be 'fixed', and that many plants are going to be unhappy with it. However, unless you are growing roses that have a strong preference for acidic soil, like multiflora hybrids, adjusting a pH in the low 7's just isn't necessary.

Julie,
You might consider getting a soil test that does more than just pH, NPK and organic matter. I had a test done for those things plus trace nutrients because quite a few of my roses had chlorosis. I had given them chelated iron with their Miracle Gro and Epsom salts (ie. Magnesium) applications, but it was doing absolutely nothing. Well it turns out my soil has pH 7.0 and was normal for everything except zero organic matter, zero nitrogen and zero manganese. I live in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest and we have sandy loam here. Manganese is something needed in quite small quantities, but apparently it’s very important because after I gave each plant a 1/2 teaspoon of manganese with their next regularly scheduled Miracle Gro application all roses began growing green leaves. The problem was quite severe on my Perle d’Or and on some roses it was barely noticeable so I think the difference was in the genetics of the particular roses. Almost all my roses are on their own roots and not grafted. Now I give each rose a 1/4 t manganese with their first spring application of Miracle Gro each year. My roses and salvias also love the 6 month slow release Osmocote Plus granules. I only use the Plus version since it has NPK plus trace nutrients. Miracle Gro also has trace nutrients, including manganese, but apparently the manganese deficiency in my soil was so severe that it wasn’t enough manganese.

Stephanie - wow. That is something! It’s crazy how such a small amount of something can make a big difference. You’ve convinced me to submit a new soil sample and go from there. That’s really helpful, thank you!

Thought I’d post an update. I did one very light foliar iron treatment on my rose and also haven’t watered it much. It is coming back to a much better looking shade if green. Thank you all!

Wow so healthy! I think I have the same problem, I did apply the iron foliar feed. But they are in pots, so I need to water them often...

Wow! James Galway is looking much better!

What foliar iron spray did you use, Julie?

Jo

Hi Jo! I used this one. The new growth is even darker. I really think I overwatered it. between this treatment and cutting back on water it’s doing a lot better. I have new buds setting now! 🤩

Julie, that’s fabulous shade of green! Sometimes just doing an application tester works. I was just testing out all the wrong nutrients in my case. lol!