Compost Fertilizing Roses

[JPIXI]

Thank you so much VAL for your enlightening post.

Val, I have a compost bin, but I am not sure is the mulche well developed. To avoid diseases from spreading, it is better that we burn our compost before applying to the roses? I am a little worried that the compost bin is not well composted and it brings diseases to my young roses. Any solution other than burning?

As for the new roses, we are allowed to provide bonemeal for the first ferlizing around March, and from the second fertlizing(around June) we can resume with the normal formula (with alfalfa and bloodmeal etc)? I am sorry, I am a little clumsy with comprehension.

J'attends avec d'autant plus d'impatience à voir mes rosiers cette année.
(I await impatiencely to see my roses this year)

Hope to hear from you guys!

Amitié,
Pixi

[grandpasrose]

Bonjour Pixi!
Don't apologize for your comprehension Pixi, you do very well!! Not to worry, unless you have put something harmful in your compost to begin with, it will not be harmful. If you didn't put diseased material into the compost, it's not there. Don't burn your compost. You will have changed the entire makeup of it by burning it. If you don't think some things have broken down enough, put your compost through a sieve, put the nice compost soil that comes through on your roses, and put the remainder that did not go through the sieve back into your compost to work longer.

If you have only just planted a rose, then only fertilize it with bonemeal, and then yes, fertilize regularly with your next round with all the others. Otherwise, begin your regular feeding regime in the spring, once you have cleaned up your rose bushes, and they are ready to start the year afresh.

Je suis sûr que quand vos roses commencent leur exposition, elles seront glorieuses!

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mon ami.

Val

[The Helpful Gardener]

Bon chance, PIXI!

[opabinia51]

Hi Pixi,

Val is bang on. I'll just add that when carbon compounds are burned carcinogenic chemicals can be formed that may possibly harm your plants.

Also, most of the nitrogen would be lost when the compost is burned.

[The Helpful Gardener]

And certainly any flora and fauna in the soil is destroyed; don't light that match, mon ami...

HG

[Sengyan]

I obtained fresh mushroom compost and used it 1 to 1 mix with soil from the garden and planted my roses (3) in it. All 3 plants died within a short time. What should I have done?

Sengyan

[grandpasrose]

Welcome to the forum Sengyan!!
By mushroom compost are you referring to mushroom manure? If so, how fresh was it?
Mushroom manure is just manure that has had mushrooms grown in it, and then is resold. If the manure is too fresh, and mixing it at a one to one ratio, you may have actually "burned" the roses. Green manure is very hot while it is aging, and damages plants if it has not aged enough.
I suspect this was probably your problem, although, not knowing what kind of soil you put it in, or what conditions they had, I cannot be certain.

Hope this helps - feel free to drop in any time and ask questions or add your voice to our discussions!!

Val

[Sengyan]

Thank you for your reply. It was compost/manure from a mushroom farm. What is the difference between mushroom compost and mushroom manure? I used soil from my wife's vegetable garden in the mix. Many posters in other rose forums said that they used mushroom compost in a 1 to 1 mix and so I did. How long do I have to wait before I can use it and at what proportion?

Sengyan

[grandpasrose]

People often call it mushroom compost, but it is really the manure that mushrooms were grown in. When you got the manure from the mushroom directly, it was probably still quite fresh. If it were purchased in a bag at a store, it would have already been left to age before it had been bagged up.
If you get mushroom manure directly, ask the supplier how long it has been aged (if at all). Manure should be aged at least a year before you put it on your roses.
If you have properly aged manure, your 1:1 ratio with regular garden soil would be fine. I would also suggest adding some other amendments that provide the nutrients that roses thrive on, that may be lacking in the soil you have mixed with. These amendments could include leaf mould, bonemeal, alfalfa pellets, epsom salt, compost, kelp, fish emulsion.

Also, roses will only grow in soil that has a slightly acidic soil PH of between 6 and 7. Test your PH, and if it is too acidic, try adding some lime. If it is too alkaline, try adding some peat moss. This may have been what happened to your roses as well.

Were your roses planted in pots? Were they bareroot roses when you purchased them? How did you plant them? Where were they placed once planted? Were they indoors or outdoors?
All of these questions will better help me to assess if it is just the manure that is the problem, or something else as well.

Hang in there - we'll figure it out!!

Val

[Sengyan]

I have other roses that are growing well. I amend the soil with the goodies mentioned. It was just the 3 "new" plants that I had problems with. The weather has been very much warmer than usual for Edmonton and I have uncovered my roses. and they are all sprouting. We've had snow/rain during the weekend but the temperature stayed in the + and I expect more of the same this coming weekend.

Sengyan

[grandpasrose]

Nice to finely see some warmer weather isn't it? When you bought your roses, were they bareroot, in a plastic bag, or what?

Val

[opabinia51]

My stepsister lives outside of Calgary in Olds, she certainly has a lot of fun trying to garden in the prairie, snow one day, sun the next, rain the next. No ocean, to buffer the temperatures. Oh well, makes what you grow that much more rewarding I guess.

[Sengyan]

All my roses were bought from box stores with the exceptions of 2 that I bought from a garden store. I have got them in plastic bags, boxes and in 1 gal.pots. When I find what I want I buy regardless of how they are sold. I make sure that they are "fresh" stock.

Sengyan

[grandpasrose]

I was just curious about these three, and whether something else may be the cause, so wanted to know how they started out.

Val