Fertilizing Your Roses

Next to watering, fertilizing your roses is the most important thing you can do. Roses need regular fertilizing to perform at their best. They require nutrients that are often lacking in the soil, but there are several easy-to-use fertilizers that are perfect for roses. These fertilizers will help them to grow faster and stay healthier. The ideal temperature for fertilizing is when the weather is between 70 and 80 degrees.

The fertilizer you choose should be applied regularly during the growing season of your roses. This is generally throughout the spring and summer. Because roses are particularly “hungry” plants, meaning that they require a lot of nutrients from the soil, it is vital to feed them regularly in order to keep them healthy. They should be fed up until about six weeks before you expect a frost to occur in your area.

Though roses need a lot of nutrients, avoid feeding them too much, as this can be unhealthy for your plants. Feed them lightly, making sure that they get the type of nourishment that they need. Roses generally need nitrogen in order to keep the plants growing and green. They need to take in phosphorus in order to grow a strong root system and to continue growing flowers. They need potassium as well, which helps roses to grow vigorously.

In addition to these main nutrients, roses also need calcium, sulfur, copper, zinc, magnesium, iron and boron. Though this sounds overwhelming, most commercial rose fertilizers take all of these needs into account and will provide the correct nutrients to the soil. Other than commercial fertilizers, compost made from diverse materials will generally have many if not all of these components in it. If you are growing organic roses, you may wish to cultivate a healthy supply of compost for this reason.

If you are growing shrub roses or old garden roses, they generally don’t need to be fertilized often. But for hybrid tea roses, miniatures, climbers and other types, they will need fertilizing about once a month. A slow-release fertilizer is generally the best type to use. It will require you to fertilize less often and it will keep the level of fertilizer in the soil steady. Fish emulsion is one such fertilizer often used with roses for its slow release and high concentration of nutrients. Whichever fertilizer you choose, be sure to apply it just the way the label suggests for the best results.

Roses have a growing season, but winter isn’t that season. Don’t fertilize your roses in the winter to try to get them to keep growing during that time. Winter growth can leave your rose stressed and susceptible to damage during freezes. Any time your roses are under stress, either from cold, a lack of water, or a heat wave, don’t fertilize during that period. This can cause various types of damage, depending on the type of stress. In hot weather and low-moisture conditions, fertilizing can lead to new growth afflicted by burns on the buds and leaves.

This post is a part of 17 posts about Rose Gardening. If you want to start at the beginning you can click on Caring for Roses