I feed organics about every couple of weeks, sometimes closer together, and just figure that the plant will use what it needs so I better make sure it has plenty of everything. Haven't killed anything yet.....

I use my organic's twice a month. Espoma (or anything of that nature) on the 1st and fish emulsion on the 15th. Ever since I started this feeding regiment, (2 yrs ago) my roses have really looked great.

Hi, Alan,

I’m trying a new regimen this spring 2021.

It is started with proper soil preparation. I added cow manure, Miracle Gro Soil...some which is raised bedding soil and mixed it all up. Miracle Gro Garden soil has so much bark now that I used it as mulch. I purchased Mycchorizae and worm castings, too, to fully create “a living soil.”

Then fertize with ”granules for the season,” add Sea Weed fertizer every 3 weeks and in end of summer do Rose Tone Organics once just before fall.

I think of the manure and soil prep as feeding the roses, too, so I mentioned it.

The regimen I am doing above is recommended by Paul Zimmerman from J&P which he does in his gardens. He has a videos ,”How to Create a Living Soil,” and “Fertilizing Roses w/Paul Z..” I have a hundred roses so it needs to be a simple regime.

Also, for fun... I may add some products occasionally from my kitchen... egg shells, fish parts, dog food, cooked vegetable water, banana peels.

I think roses need good living soil & fertilizer both as food to feed them all the time. I time my feedings per a schedule but also I am always daily working towards better soil by adding to it...organic compost products.

Good grief, I must be doing something wrong. After the early spring regimen of Plant Tone and Lilly Miller Organic granular fertilizer, my roses are lucky to get anything for the rest of the summer/early fall. It doesn't seem to matter much. Have any of you ever thought you might be overdoing it? Plants can only uptake a limited amount of NPK and micronutrients. Everything like phosphorus is excessive and in the case of P, it's a pollutant. Just a thought. Diane

Thank you, Diane. I used to do only granules once a season. J&P video of P Zimmerman recommended it, but I thought it was a little much...maybe leaning towards advertising....However, It’s fun to try new things and I am still working on amending my clay... which is really hard in some places... really needs help to soften up . All my gardens are new and the soil is very hard still in several areas. When it’s soft good soil around and my roses are all planted, then I will be done. I’ll have to check out Lilly Miller...Also, my property is so big that it’s expensive to buy all these fertilizers so using kitchen compost is a future good idea for my roses.

I feed my potted plants with fish emulsion or kelp every two weeks. They get way more attention than roses in the ground that get lily Miller organic fertilizer twice a year. I just know that with the frequent watering that my pots get that they are losing nutrients more quickly.

I agree that creating great soil is key and I have some that really needs work.

My neighbors roses never get a thing and they look equally as good as mine do but have been in the ground for 20 plus years.

I agree with Diane and think that there can be too much of a good thing. Paul Zimmerman keeps it simple and dosen't go crazy with fertalizing. Who has the time if you have several roses.

So, in ground gets 2 granular feedings and maybe once a month either fish emulsion or alfalfa tea and who knows, maybe a shot of Miracle Grow

But, if what you are doing is working , go for it.

There was a wonderful rosarian who live locally and he had well over 100 roses

He taught classes and did garden walk throughs once a year.

His recipe for hid roses was ( and I dont remember exact proportions)

Monthly

Miracle Grow

Epson salts

Fish emulsion

Super thrive

I did it for a while but found that I didnt really need all of that

It all sounds good! Whatever program you enjoy the most w/your roses. Great ideas, Kristin, sounds like it works well for you. I think trying the sea weed will be fun... any fish or kelp seems to be highly recommended for roses.

I think the idea is to create healthy soil and food for your roses... there are lots of ways to get there there. .The main thing is enjoy it!

Re: MG. Are you guys speaking about their slow release or just granular one.

Or the typical -powder in a bottle- which is synthetic.

I've been off the syn for awhile and don't laugh, but I get a bit cheeky if I make a hole when planting something and see ### worms. It shows I'm doing something right if for every shovel bit I take I see ### worms

There is no such thing as synthetic NPK. What these are bound to can vary, but plants take up the element, not the compound. Diane

A lot depends on your soil. Roses would grow backwards and die in my unamended soil, but my daughter can stick anything in a hole just large enough to contain the roots, and it thrives. She doesn't know or care about NPK or any of that because she has never used fertilizer or rose food. When her roses get too tall for her to reach the blooms, she takes them out and starts over. She hard prunes almost to the ground, and they grow like lightening. Her soil is rich enough without any additives. Mine is the opposite.

Blooming depends on the age of the grafted-roses for particular climate. I visit both rose parks (Chicago Botanical Garden with 5,000 roses) and Cantigny garden with 1,200 roses. I visited Cantigny yearly for over a decade. The first and esp. 2nd year of roses grafted on Dr.Huey: tons of blooms (more blooms than leaves), then it's a drastic decline in 3rd year and the rose park replaces roses every 3 to 5 years.

Rose park's 1st and 2nd year Jude the Obscure's spring flush was amazing: zillion of petals, at least 40 blooms per bush. In the 3rd year late fall, I saw only one bloom on their 7 feet tall Jude (no matter how much high-phosphorus fertilizer is given).

Dr.Huey-rootstock declines in freezing wet winter, esp. poor drainage clay.

Multiflora-rootstock behaves the same in Pakistan's hot climate. Rosarians there report Multiflora drastic decline then death within 5 years.

With 134 own-root roses, I have many that bloom well past 10 years if I add new soil on top yearly. Solid fertilizer works if there's spring rain, after that I use SOLUBLE fertilizer.

couldn't refrain....for just giving them a snack. I mean technically the biochar is more a amendment, but IME it seems to definitely work well on the turf side.

Lawn got a haircut and I was also putting down some biochar for the turf

Bag was out. I was doing gardening stuff already. Rose bed got a dash or two of some biochar as well. Pretty content with the set blooms awaiting on the 1st flush this year. It's pretty dang -full-.

Whether it's the fertz that is aiding in the spring flush, I dunno. I am going to focus on alfalfa for the rest of this season as I want new to encourage new growth from the base.

Gardening has taught me alot on patience....heh, but when you get so many buds per plant, you just have that inkling to push it further.

Good tips from below website on fertilizing roses. I agree 100%.

https://www.thespruce.com/how-when-to-fertilize-roses-4942489

"A rule of thumb is to fertilize after each bloom cycle but to gradually reduce the amount of fertilizer by half each time. Stop fertilizing six to eight weeks before the first average frost date in your area."

@strawchicago z5, Thank you. Great ideas!

The grafting stats you saw at the gardens are an eye opener. When we are in these cold climates the own root roses work well to live longest! I have many own roots/ and some grafted from DA and Edmonds. I am going to really TLC my grafted hoping they last because they are mostly DA. Definitely I will try to focus on obtaining own roots! Yes, good new soil/mulch yearly helps! Thank you again for all your tips! I am fascinated with your amazing 135 roses! Love seeing the blooms! I would like to look at your last “fertilizer thread,” you posted just awhile back, with lots of beautiful photos of your gardens...lots of great ideas. Do you know the name of that thread?

@strawchicago z5

I asked an edited question in comment above...do you know the name of your last thread? Love to look at it again? Thank you.

Below is the thread for spring fertilizing & garden tips

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6121980/garden-tips-bush-beauty-fertilizer-for-fast-growth

Below is the thread on using alfalfa meal & prevent rabbits & growing own-root roses

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6121342/new-purchases-solution-to-pests-garden-changes-fav-fertilizer#n=16

Below is the thread where everyone posted pics of their gardens plus how they fertilize:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6109667/post-your-best-pics-and-the-secrets-fertilizer-soil-for-them#n=113

Thank you @strawchicago z5. I think I’ll take a few notes. I am learning so much this year and my roses are doing really well in NY now! Your assistance and wealth of knowledge about roses has been very helpful. I appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge with us!

Happy Gardening!

Kitty: I love your gracious spirit and enjoy all the pics. you post of your roses & plants and pets. Gardening in a cold zone is tough and my goal is to help people not to make the same mistakes as I did. Thank you for your encouragement and support.

I have been thinking this morning about roses grafted on Dr.Huey. A neighbor had a 3 feet tall & healthy Angel Face with at least 60 blooms in 5 hours of morning sun. My jaw dropped when I saw how many blooms it had, even more vigorous than rose park Angel Face. That was its peak at 2nd year. The next year we had tons of rain, and it came down with horrible rust from potassium depletion and decline of Dr.Huey-rootstock. The neighbor got rid of it.

There was a thread on the life-span of grafted-roses. Many folks, except for dry & alkaline regions (CA), reported the optimal production of Dr.Huey as 5 years. The life-span of Multiflora is also 5-years, then it's not much blooming. But the life-span of Fortuniana rootstock is more than a decade, same with own-roots. Both Fortuniana and own-roots spread out wide to get nutrients, rather confined in a long & fat stick like Dr.Huey-rootstock.

The least bloom in my garden right now is an 8th-year old grafted Double-Delight that I got for $3 at Walmart. It was great for the first 3 years, then a drastic decline in blooms. Last year I got 3 blooms per flush. And it gets full-sun compared to generous own-roots with only 4 hours of sun. I'll get rid of Double Delight if it doesn't give me high-quality blooms for the vase.

I'm only -feeding- as sooo many seem to say roses are heavy feeders.

Maybe that phrase is over-rated ? I have not fed the potted rose yet

I did a shovel prune. But I took pity and put it into some old potting container with some old potting soil. I do water it. But for the lack of anything aside from a post winter prune and water, this neglected rose compared to the ones in dirt, still has at least 10 bloom buds on them.