I’m in my very first season of growing roses. I planted 6 own root roses from Heirloom Roses 2 weeks ago and 3 of them are really struggling. Leaves are yellowing, shriveling and falling, and the canes are slowly turning brown. Could this be pests? I can’t actually see any aphids, mites or thrips, but doesn’t mean they’re not there, right?
Some additional info: all roses planted in full sun in 2x2 holes. Clay soil amended with compost, potting mix (no fertilizers), bone meal and aged cow manure. Watered every 2-3 days as it’s been very hot. I’m in zone 5b.
Aged cow manure is likely rather hot to be put in the root zone of a rose. If anything, it should be used sparingly in the mulch, spread out over the surface of the soil where it can continue breaking down and water flowing through it can wash the nutrients it releases through the root zone. Shriveling and yellowing leaves are not pests nor diseases. Those are indications your roses are drying out and/or being cooked, either by heat or by “salt”. The operative words you wrote are “it’s been very hot”. I would attempt to provide some sort of shade for the plants against that direct, full, hot sun to reduce the “cooking” effects it has on the plant tissues. Stakes driven into the ground around them with white fabric (sheets, Tshirts, etc.) firmly tied to them with a good foot of air space between the fabric and the plant should work. Check how much water you’re providing them. It may not be sufficient. Dig down into the planting hole with a trowel or small shovel so you can physically feel the soil. There are several potential things you may find… the soil may not be sufficiently moist enough for the heat you’re experiencing. The plants may require more water. Or, perhaps in your clay soil, those holes aren’t draining well and the water is backing up, being held in them as if they were buckets and the struggling plants are literally drowning. If the soil in the planting holes is literal mud, that is likely the case. Perhaps that aged cow manure is receiving too much water and is literally rotting, releasing hydrogen sulfide, which kills plant roots. It replaces the oxygen in the soil and kills plants. You will notice a “sour” stench, perhaps even a “dirty diaper” smell. That’s a danger of burying organic material in planting holes. Organics require oxygen, nitrogen and moisture for the soil bacteria and fungi to digest them, to release their nutrients, where water dissolves them, carrying them through the feeder root zones where the plants absorb them. If organic fertilizers are buried in saturated soil, they ferment rather than being digested, by anaerobic bacteria, those which cause rot in the absence of oxygen. The gases they release stink badly and are toxic to plants and animals. You need to insure your 2’ X 2’ holes drain quickly enough to prevent water from collecting in them, causing rot. You should also not put organic fertilizers (bone meal and aged cow manure ARE “fertilizers”) IN soil which may not drain well. Clay often doesn’t drain well. So, those struggling plants may either not be receiving enough water; or they may be receiving too much water and are drowning due to insufficient drainage; or are being killed by souring organic material buried in waterlogged soil due to bad drainage; or are too immature to endure the severe sun and heat you are currently experiencing. Being own root is not the issue. Being immature plants being set out in extreme conditions with the potential of any, or any combination of the situations I’ve described is likely the cause.
It may have been better for those plants to have been potted in five gallon nursery cans to grow larger, develop larger, more substantial top growth and root systems before being set out in the high heat and extreme sun they are experiencing. Now, the best you can do is to examine what’s going on under ground as I’ve suggested to determine whether they’re getting enough water; too much water; insufficient drainage and whether any of the organics are souring in standing water. That answer will tell you what you should do to correct it. No chemicals, no sprays, no fertilizers are required. Just investigation to find out what’s happening. Then you can determine what’s needed to fix the problem. Good luck!
This is so helpful! Thank you!
I had no idea the cow manure could wreak this much havoc. It was part of the planting instructions provided by the grower, along with the other amendments I mentioned.
I suspect the issue is too much organic material coupled with not quick enough drainage, but will check per your instructions. Hope I can save them!
In my opinion, there’s no way the Heirloom Aged Cow Manure caused these problems. I have used that product when planting and I have had no problems. It is NOT hot as indicated by use of word “Aged” on the product.
From your pic I might suggest you water more, a lot more!
I had a chance to dig into the soil and here’s what I found (about 24 hrs since last watering):
Consistently moist but not muddy (reads highest moisture level on a 3-1 soil meter)
Does smell a bit off. Not like regular soil but not necessarily sour or diapery, so difficult to describe. A little steam came off as I dug in.
The soil temp is a good 8°F higher (88°F) than soil a few feet away without any amendments (checked with a probe thermometer).
It seems to me watering levels are ok (or I might even need to wait a little longer between?).
I worry that while the aged manure isn’t bad if used properly, maybe too much was used and maybe not deep enough in the hole. I had a landscaping crew help but I don’t think they measured or read the provided instructions very carefully.
The soil temp is concerning to me. At this point, am I better off providing shade in place or transplanting the roses to a container with fresh soil for the rest of the hot summer?
The higher soil temp with the steam rising would indicate there is bacterial activity of some kind going on under ground. Soil temps should remain cool. That’s one of the functions mulch is used for…keep soil moisture higher and soil temps lower. Perhaps you should gently remove the struggling plants and pot them to recover while you remove the suspect soil to be used as mulch or to replace soil you remove elsewhere in the yard? Dr. J H. Nicolas, long the breeder for Jackson and Perkins in the early 20th Century, wrote in his great book, A Rose Odyssey, “don’t bury garbage”. Put organics on the surface of the soil where Mother Nature applies them, where they will receive the appropriate temperatures, moisture, nitrogen for the soil populations to digest them into their nutrient salts. “Digestion” is much more efficient on the soil surface, plus it is MUCH faster and easier for YOU to accomplish. Clay already retains moisture. It doesn’t need any amendment to increase its water holding capacities. Organics don’t increase drainage, but they can slow it and they can sour under ground in slow drainage. Good luck!
Hi Sabrina. That rose is cooked. Something has killed it. Zoom in on this photo and I can see dead canes on the ground, drooping new growth and no promising buds to see. As a last ditch effort, you may try digging it up, pruning it way down, put it in a 3 gallon nursery pot with all new soil, then find a shady spot for it. It looks pretty far gone. If you can revive it with a boatload of TLC, that’s an achievement. Take those photos to your nursery provider and see if they give you a replacement.
You may have created a problem for your roses by only amending the planting hole. Basically the water pools in the hole and does not drain away causing the roots to be constantly wet. I would dig up the roses and place in pots, then amend the entire garden area with organic matter. Replant after soil has settled a bit.
This might be controversial, but with young roses from Heirloom, I pot them up in 5 gallons and grow them in that for a season first before considering in-ground. This allows me to make sure roots are kept nice and moist and I can move them about if they’re getting too much sun/heat, shade, etc. I do baby them a bit but, knock on wood, I’ve had ~30 roses from them and haven’t lost one yet.
Not simply with Heirloom sourced roses but with all smaller, less mature roses starting them in pots to gain some maturity, “momentum”, is a good idea. That was one of a few original issues with Heirloom plants when they first got started. MANY complained about the size of the plants, how immature and small they were. Many would immediately plant them in the ground, leaving them to fend for themselves in the harsher conditions they weren’t used to. MANY died. We seem to forget these are “babies”. They are immature compared to the bare roots we’ve become used to. Often, these cutting grown plants may not be a full year old. Anything with thin wood and a small root system (4" pot to really a gallon can) needs “nursed”, kept in a larger pot, with good potting soil until they produce thicker wood and a larger root system so they are more able to successfully survive harsher conditions. The thinner the growth, the faster it either freezes or sun scalds in extremes. I’ve even started bare roots in nursery cans for decades and have never lost any of them, either.
Thank you, Jim! Excuse my ignorance, but how would you go about amending the entire garden bed (with many other perennials already planted and doing ok)? We dug 2’ deep holes for these roses and I can attest to that being difficult enough. Not sure how I would go deeper without some heavy machinery.
Thank you, Sheena! That makes so much sense and I wish I’d thought of it!
For some reason, I’ve been afraid of transplanting… I read somewhere that this can be stressful to plants and some might not adapt, but I hadn’t considered being planted young, in full July sun would be even more stressful.
I am getting two roses replaced by Heirloom’s warranty and will put them in pots until next Spring.
@Sabrina_5b transplanting is usually only stressful on plants if they are being moved from a shady spot to a full sun, hot spot, or if the root ball is significantly disturbed. It shouldn’t be terribly difficult to grow plants like your Heirloom plants in a gallon until it seems the roots are filling the can, then move them up to a five gallon nursery can where they can grow for some months until they have established a decent root ball in that size. Let them dry a few days to reduce the weight and potential for the soil ball to break up, then slide one hand, opened so the shank of the plant slips between the fingers of your open hand, then turn the pot upside down and give it a “dump” to knock the root ball out of the can and on to your open hand. You can let the empty can fall to the side, then wrap your empty hand around the side of the root ball and gently guide it into the prepared planting hole. It’s easier than it sounds and works perfectly. All you need are a few one gallon and a few five gallon nursery cans to keep cycling new smaller roses through each season and a good potting soil. As long as they have filled the can with roots and you allow the potting soil to dry out a bit so it isn’t as liable to break apart, the soil balls should remain mainly in tact and the plants probably won’t even notice they’ve been moved. Easy peasy.
Can you make the hole wider and perhaps deeper? If not I have no other suggestions than to perhaps try an inch or so of pea gravel in the bottom of the hole.
You’ll probably want to dig the hole you have and fill it with water to determine how long it takes for it to drain. If it doesn’t drain, adding rocks to the bottom won’t accomplish anything. Hopefully it will drain in less than a day. If not, you have a drainage problem which is likely only to be corrected by digging deeply enough to get below whatever the level is that prevents the hole from draining. The last thing you need is for the holes you dig to fill up like buckets and not drain.
Yes! I totally agree, I do this for all my roses less than 2 yrs old ie band sizes from HCR, RVR, etc. I even pot my bare-roots for a bit before they go in the ground but that’s likely to be overkill. The key is not to disturb the root ball.
Heirloom’s instructions are to put the Aged Cow Manure in the BOTTOM of the hole. I put maybe 1 cup in the bottom of my holes, along with some bone meal. Ideally you want the roots to grown DOWN in the soil where ultimately the cow manure will provide some nutrition. Watering deeply, but not frequently, will encourage the roots to grown down seeking moisture.
Sabrina: There is some difference of opinion on the use of “aged cow manure.” If you mix it in with the backfill, it almost certainly is not the problem. Dry, composted cow or horse (not chicken) manure is a very helpful amendment along with compost. But I wonder if you’re watering deeply enough, like every third day the first summer. Remember that your roots stretch about 18 inches down. You have to get water to the very tips.
But it looks like you’re doing most things right–a nice layer of mulch in the bed to keep the soil moist and cool. I generally put a couple of inches of compost down in the spring, before I mulch. I would suggest that you take photographs of the near death roses and send them to Heirloom with a request for replacement. They are awfully good about this. John H.
