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Problems with roses #879107

Asked July 28, 2024, 12:40 PM EDT

Hello, I have been having issues with a couple of rose plants. I have attached pictures of one of the plants in its current state. I did have an issue with sawfly larvae this spring, so a lot of the leaf damage is from them. It was a bad enough infestation that I used the "nuclear" option and sprayed with Sevin, and then followed up a week later with some neem oil. This visibly got ride of the bugs, but the plants have been very slow to recover. The plants face south east with significant sun exposure throughout the day. They are all fed by drip irrigation, usually watered for about 10 minutes, twice a day. They also got an application of Bioadvanced All-In-One Rose and Flower Care about one month ago. Any idea why I am seeing such slow recovery and not a lot of new leaves? The tops of the plants also look very spiky (not thorns) or spindly. Thank you. Regards

Livingston County Michigan

Expert Response

It looks like you have a few issues going on with this plant. That 'spindly growth' you are referencing is extensive insect feeding. If you look closely, you can see chewed bits of leaves left on the stem. I'm not sure if this damage was caused before or after you sprayed. The sawfly larvae can cause holes in the leaves (like those leaves on the lower stems) but they can also eat larger sections as the larvae grows. 

The leaf-chewing resulting in the 'spindly growth' on the upper sections could be caused by other insects as well. This may have happened after you treated for sawfly. There are a number of night-feeding insects that can damage plants in this way, so you may not have seen those insects on the plant. Here is a link to an article about night-feeding insects.

What bug chewed on my plants last night? - Gardening in Michigan (msu.edu) 

The good news is that the roses have not been completely defoliated and should have enough leaves to survive into next year and should be able to put on new growth next spring.

From the photos the leaves also appear to have a stippled look, which indicates that they also probably have mite damage. This makes sense, as plants in this type of location (sunny south-facing with reflected heat from a building) often have mite issues. Unfortunately, natural predators of mites can be killed with various insecticides but not mites, thereby increasing the mite population. Here is an article from Purdue about mites and their treatment options.

Spider Mites on Ornamentals (purdue.edu) 

An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 31, 2024, 4:07 PM EDT

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