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Pittsburgh Rose Society

Supplying Nutrients (Fertilizing)

To make sense of this topic it helps to review exactly what roses need to grow.
Simply put they need all the sun you can get for them (minimum of 6 hours per day),
plenty of water that drains readily and a good source of -Nitrogen, Phosphorous, &
Potassium - either natural sources or man-made sources.

The most common way to fertilize roses is with synthetic or man made ready
fertilizers. These come in water soluble (such as Miracle Grow) that work immediately
when mixed with water or granulated fertilizers in bags/boxes (10-10-10 or some
other combination of the big three—Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium). As opposed
to soluble agents, granular types take time to dissolve in the soil; especially if it has
been coated with a polymer to release nutrients slowly over the growing season (Slow
Release Fertilizer). Both types work well and give the roses what they need if the
instructions on the package are followed. It should be remember that this means of
fertilization alone does nothing to build up and keep your soil fertile & healthy and
repeated, regular fertilizing is required. If you don’t fertilize regularly, then your roses
do not get a steady supply of nutrients and will not flourish.

Plants contain all 92 natural elements, but require only sixteen for growth. Thirteen of
these elements are mineral elements or nutrients. There are six macronutrients and
seven micronutrients. In most cases, gardeners need only be concerned with supplying
quality of packaged fertilizers according to manufacturer’s instructions. This stated a
gardener should familiarize themselves with the three major nutrients identified on
most fertilizer packaging. These are the nutrients that you will see commonly
identified in the large printed numbers (10-10-10, etc.) Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and
Potassium are labeled as a sequence of three numbers giving a ratio of each to the
other.

Nitrogen promotes healthy vegetative, green growth.

Phosphorous is what promotes strong root growth and bloom production.

Potassium makes sure all is in good working order somewhat like a vitamin. I call it
the plants system booster as it helps the plant through stressful times such as
disease/insect damage, drought and cold temperatures.

Balanced fertilizers have an equal representation of the three major nutrients, for
example, 10-10-10. Fertilizers formulated for strong green growth will have a larger
percentage of nitrogen. Fertilizers for evergreen trees or turf grasses will have a large
percentage of nitrogen, for example, 30-10-10. Fertilizers developed for flower
production normally has a high phosphorous content, for example, 10-20-10. Usually it
is best to stay away from high nitrogen content fertilizers for use with roses.

How you fertilize your roses depends on what stage of the growing process your roses
are experiencing. If you are fertilizing newly planted roses you should only use bone
meal or super phosphate (very small amount) in the planting hole at the time of
planting. This promotes root formation. You certainly do not want to promote a lot of
green growth at the expense of a good root system.

Your basic rose feeding program should start out with a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10),
or one with a high phosphorous content (5-10-5, 10-20-10). Even better are rose
fertilizers, which include the other macro and micronutrients.

The secondary macronutrients are sulphur, calcium, and magnesium. Use of a high
quality rose fertilizer will ensure that these macronutrients are made available to the
roses.

Of these secondary macronutrients, magnesium is the most useful to the rose gardener.
Magnesium sulfate, provided in the form of Epsom salts, is a time-honored secret for
intensifying flower color, increasing flower production, and flushing harmful salts
through the soil. Add Epsom salts at the rate of 1/2 cup per plant

Success in rose growing is a simple secret. It boils down to the basics, if you give the
rose what it needs, it will flourish - if you don’t, it won't.

A rose is only hardy if it is healthy

To get healthy growing roses you must have excellent soil preparation. This means
putting plenty of organic materials to hold moisture in sandy type soils, add
micronutrients as they decompose and improve the soil in general. This is the value of
COMPOST. The beauty of compost is that it is the finest amendment you can add to
your garden soil, and it is also the least expensive (with the exception of your time!).
For more about composting, go the Penn State Website. S