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Problem with my climber

Hello.... :)

I have a beautiful climbing rose...."Princess Elizabeth"...that I truly love, but every year after the initial bloom it begins to get black spot, and nothing I've tried seems to prevent it. I've used anti-fungal sprays before any problem can be seen, and I pick off any affected leaves and dispose of them separately when I see them....even scour the ground looking for any that slip by. Despite these measures my poor climber gets black spot so badly it looks just terrible. I bought this rose as a bare root plant specifically because it was supposed to be very disease resistant (and I like the color pink... :) )

Anything I can do this spring before the season begins? I live in Maryland and it's darned cold right now....zone 7.
Guest

I'm careful not to water the foliage...only the base of the climber. Mother Nature, of course, is not so courteous....:)
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Kisal
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Posts: 7646
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:04 am
Location: Oregon

Does your rose get the morning sun? Many years ago, I had some beautiful red climbers growing on a trellis against the west side of my house. The poor things were plagued terribly by black spot. I decided to move them to the east side of the house to grow our fence. Lo and behold, they never got black spot again!

We decided the improvement was because in the new location, they were exposed to the early morning sun, which quickly dried the dew off the leaves. When the roses were growing on the west side of the house, the sun didn't reach them until about 1 p.m.

All just speculation, I know, but that was the experience I had. :)
Guest

It actually IS on the east side of the house and gets morning/early afternoon sun. :( I have two hybrid tea roses on the west side that never get black spot....how's that for ironic? :)
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Kisal
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Posts: 7646
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:04 am
Location: Oregon

Perhaps it's the different climates we live in! :lol:

You might try spraying with a solution of milk and water, about 1 to 10 is effective, but you can even mix it 50/50, if you like. Any kind of milk will work, even the non-fat dry type. Milk has fungicidal properties, and black spot is caused by a fungus.


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