I need help!, after a successful spring and part of the summer with great blooms my buds have become black. Since it has been really hot in Los Angeles I’ve been watering it every day with a dripping system for 12 minutes everyday. The buds open but the flowers have become really small
Looks more like insect damage than a fungus. Hard to say from the picture. Are the buds soft and mushy?
12 minutes of water isn’t much with a dripper - do you know what the gph is on your drippers? I would be watering very deeply, less often, as you want the roots to grow down in search of water, rather than rely on short surface moisture.
Hi Enrique, I live in central Louisiana. If I see leaves similar to the ones shown in your photo my first thoughts are chilli thrips. Chilli thrips are very tiny, almost too tiny for the naked eye to see. They feed on the new growth of many types of plants, not just roses. They suck the fuild out of the buds and new leaves. You don’t realize you have a problem until you see the distorted new leaves and buds. Chilli thrips multiple quickly and move quickly to surrounding plants.
Chilli thrips are hard to control without the use of insecticides. First cut off the damaged foliage (along with the main concentration of chilli thrips); put it in a plastic bag and remove it from your yard. A contact insecticide (kills on contact; not poisonous once it dries) and horticulture oil are effective to control chilli thrips. But, any oils will damage foliage in hot weather. Insecticides containing the chemical Spinosad can be found in the big box garden departments. To get control you must spray for about 2 weeks every 3-4 days in order to kill the eggs that hatch after your initial spraying. Spinosad does not kill the eggs so a new batch of chilli thrips hatch from the eggs every few days.
Research chilli thrips and compare the photos. You may reconize your plant in the photos at: Chilli Thrips, Vol. 10, No. 06 | Mississippi State University Extension Service
Chilli thrips thrive in the heat. You can save your plant, but don’t delay threatment to control the rapid spread. I’ll be glad to answer other questions if you decide you have chilli thrips.
High temps have a direct affect on the size of the blooms. The heat causes the blooms to open too fast…so they’re small. sounds like you are watering enough. stick your finger down into the soil and check for moisture.
The leaves in the picture look like you may have chilli thrips!
If you are watering with a traditional drip irrigation system 12 minutes a day is not enough water. I use drip irrigation and water 1 hour and 30 minutes twice a week. The idea with drip is to water deeply and less frequently. Roses have very deep roots and it takes a while for drip to reach those roots. However I don’t think watering is your problem. Those who have had experience with chili thrips sound like they are on the right track. You need to investigate further.
I’m out near Palm Springs… a very hot summer. I’ve been watering 4x a day for 3min 45 secs when it’s over 110, 3 mins. if it’s under. I feel it’s been 100 for months🔥
My roses were beautiful until this heat. Now very small blooms, and slower to bloom. I can’t wait til Oct.
It’s normal for the buds to be smaller in the heat. The watering tho, you need to markedly increase. That’s not enough, at all. Turn your drippers on in the early morning and let them drip for at least an hour.
Thanks for responding. They were not mushy, they were rather hard. I sprayed need oil and cut all the black buds, we’ll see how it goes.
Also, these are the drippers:
Thank you Billie, I’m new into roses and I’m learning a lot. Definitely I do have chilli thrips. in some of my rose bushes. I followed your advice and got rid of all those wrinkly leaves. I’ll just have to get the proper insecticide.
Thanks again!!!
Thanks for responding. Yes, definitely I do have chilli thrips. I have followed the advice in this thread and got rid of the affected leaves 
Hi Corinne, thanks for responding.
Not sure if these are called drip irrigation, but mine looks like this:
Thanks for responding.
Thanks for the tip, I will keep checking the soil as this week we are gonna be 101 in LA 
Same here, my blooms have been so big until recently, when we’ve had these high temperatures.
Don’t get discouraged with insect problems. Actually roses don’t have too many insect problems but you do need to be aware of a problem when it shows up. Chilli thrips are a hot weather problem, but Southern California like southern Louisiana have more hot weather than cold. Make a trip to Lowes or a near by garden center. Look for inseceticide containing Spinosad. Good luck.
I had a problem with Chili Thrips years ago – Gaye Hammond (THE Master Rosarian Houston Rose Society) helped diagnose for which will be eternally grateful. Checking the Texas A&M Agri folks – I tried their suggestion and it worked great. Abamectin, along with Orthene. The Abamectin is expensive but only a little is required of the concentrate I bought (0.6ml/Gallon water). The downside is that it is very toxic and will require careful use, gloves and all the other Protective gear. But in my opinion, it is worth it.
These are drip irrigation. The problem with them is that it’s difficult to tell how much water each rose is getting. Roses need at least one inch of water a week to thrive. The simplest way to measure this is to put a tuna fish can under the sprinkler and run it until you get one inch of water in the can. That will tell you how long to leave the system on. I use regular drip emitters so I know exactly how much water my roses are receiving. Each rose has a one gallon per hour emitter. So to get four gallons of water to the rose the emitter has to be on for four hours per week.
Hi, Enrique, I am sorry to tell you that it looks to me like you have chilli thrips. They are especially active and reproduce very quickly in hot weather. They damage and scorch new foliage and buds and blooms. You cannot see them with the naked eye but you MUST cut out and bag all damaged growth. Go as far down the stem as you see the damage. You will see bronze streaks on the backs of leaves and that must all be cut out. Then get in your garden daily and keep cutting. Some people spray with a pesticide with the active ingredient Spinosad. I do not spray but control this pest by being vigilant and cutting out damage and encouraging beneficials in my garden such as the minute pirate bug. Good luck!
