Will the use of the BioAdvanced 3 in 1 Rose and Flower Care product have any negative effect on soil Mycorrhizal fungi? We have been using the 3 in 1 for a while on our Camellias with what I think are good results ie., controlled bugs, decent growth etc. We would like to move to more organic treatments and be kinder to beneficial fungi. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank You.
Are you using the liquid or the granular product?
The smelly granules.
Yes there is an impact to the soil organisms, however, I haven’t seen any research on how long it lasts or if adding mycorrhizae later can offset the initial loss. I will try and do some research on this.
Here’s my cautionary tale: I used BioAdvanced 3 in 1 Rose and Flower Care, both liquid and granules, from 2011-2016. The garden included more than 400 HTs, OGRs, climbers, ramblers, and shrubs. I started using the BioAdvanced 3 in 1 because I worked the estate garden alone and needed to be efficient.
In a large rose garden in coastal South Carolina (USDA Zone 8B), you have to have religion when it comes to disease control. I was obsessive-compulsive with my roses. They lacked for nothing.
Beginning in 2013, I began to wonder why my HTs didn’t seem to grow as large or as quickly as they had in the past. I’d planted about 150 new HTs in 2012-2013. Some were grafted, some own root and some on fortuniana. I ordered soil tests, added compost and kept puzzling over the HTs. Why weren’t these roses growing?
By a process of elimination over a couple of years, I concluded that BioAdvanced was the trouble maker. I didn’t come to this conclusion immediately. Most of the roses in that garden were large and thriving. Then I began to notice that it was the HTs that suffered. I dug many of them up and found their root systems were small and not healthy.
I stopped using BioAdvanced on the HTs. Some of the mature bushes recovered, but most of the small, young bushes did not. As for the many shrubs, OGRs and climbers in the garden, the BioAdvanced did not seem to hinder their growth.
After that experience, I completely stopped using the granular and liquid BioAdvanced 3 in 1. Here I am, 10 years later, now in a different garden, still spraying roses twice a month.
Thank You Rosejoy and Mary-Beth for your insight.
Seems like, “When in doubt… Go without” is the mantra of the day.
Dan