Spray Day

Every other Monday, I break out my trusty Mantis Spraymate 12-gallon sprayer to spray my roses with fungicide.  Blackspot is a fungal disease that is a huge problem in this area, and many of the roses I grow are susceptible to it.  A quick spray of fungicide every two weeks is all it takes prevent most blackspot infection on my roses.

I use Honor Guard, a super-concentrated systemic fungicide ... available HERE.  (For smaller gardens, I recommend Bayer Advanced Disease Control, which is a fungicide-only spray, available at Lowes and at specialty nurseries.)

In addition to helping protect the roses from blackspot, Spray Day also gives me the chance to be up close and personal with each rose in my garden.  Most of the time, each rose receives a quick spray of fungicide and I'm on to the next one.  Sometimes I notice things that need attention ... like finding a cane on 'Comte de Champagne' that is infected with Rose Rosette Disease, or seeing this little guy:

The first Japanese Beetle of the season. 

For those who say that spraying roses is too labor intensive, takes too much time, etc., etc., I timed myself this morning.  I put on my shoes and walked out of the house at 8:30, and I put away the sprayer and walked back into the house at 9:45.  One hour and fifteen minutes, start to finish.  In that time, I mixed 11 gallons of solution and sprayed approximately 400 of my 700-or-so roses.  (I did not spray any roses in the Rose Field, or any of my ramblers in their three locations in the garden.)  

One hour and fifteen minutes, twice a month, to help insure the health of my rose garden ... not bad at all!

(Remember, when I say "spray" I am talking only about fungicide.  I do not use ANY type of insecticide in my garden ... no chemical, organic, soap, etc.  My motto is "no insecticides, no exceptions" ... I let the good bugs eat the bad bugs and things balance themselves out nicely without any interference from me.  In the case of the Japanese Beetles, I will probably go after them by hand in the more visible areas of the garden ... or not, depending on my mood.)

Every Other Monday ...

... is Spray Day.  I live in an area of the country (central Virginia) where blackspot and other fungal diseases are a real problem for many of the roses that I grow.  It's pretty easy to keep it at bay, with an application of a good systemic fungicide twice a month.

Here is my sprayer ... a 12-gallon Mantis Spraymate that makes applying fungicide to 800+ roses as effortless as it can be.  One full batch in this baby will do about 3/4 of the garden, coating the leaves of susceptible roses with a fine mist of fungicide.  (I don't spray the ramblers or other large roses that aren't bothered by blackspot.)

My fungicide of choice right now is Honor Guard (the generic form of Banner Maxx, available from Rosemania.)  It is highly concentrated, and this one-quart bottle will last about two years.  For smaller gardens, I recommend Bayer Advanced Disease Control, which is available at Lowes and local specialty nurseries.

I believe in the use of fungicide to keep blackspot and other fungal diseases under control.  The use of a systemic, which is labeled for application every 14 - 21 days, means that I am exposing the environment (and myself) less frequently.  Though I use fungicide, I do NOT use insecticides of any type in my garden ... nothing at ALL ... no organics, no insecticidal soap ... they all kill and I'm not getting into a cycle of playing Mother Nature.  I let the good bugs eat the bad bugs, and the garden stays mostly in balance.

I also believe in using a product that treats problems directly.  For this reason, I do not use (nor do I recommend) soil drenches for control of blackspot or insects.  If I have something wrong with the leaves of my roses (blackspot), I apply a product to the leaves to treat the problem.  I also don't recommend combination products (some products have insecticide and fungicide combined ... some drenches even have insecticide, fungicide, and fertilizer.)  In my garden, fungicide gets sprayed on leaves, fertilizer is applied to the soil, and insecticides are not allowed.

Decked out in long pants, long sleeves, rubber gardening shoes, with my safety glasses and mask, it only took 2 hours this morning to walk the garden with my sprayer and use up all 12 gallons ... which was enough to do everything but the back half of the Rose Field.  Normally I would have mixed up another couple of gallons of spray to finish the job, but I was hot and tired, and the breeze picked up, and I decided to do the rest of the roses tomorrow.