Organic treatments

[Deleted]

As I have already confessed, my name is rosemother and I'm a rosaholic!

I want to make my garden wildlife friendly, but I also want to keep my roses healthy. Are there any non chemical solutions to blackspot/mildew/aphids? I've heard people talk about insecticidal soap. Is this the same as roseclear?

Thanks!

[Juliet]

Hi Rosemother,

Sorry, I don't know about Roseclear, but this is the insecticidal soap in the organic gardening catalogue: www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_181&products_id=550 They also sell sulphur, which is supposed to be suitable to use on blackspot, mildew etc (though not ideal as it's not good for the environment) - I haven't tried it myself so can't recommend (it wouldn't be good for me either) & I think it's a bit of a last resort thing. I just pick off leaves affected by black spot & bin them. I tried a solution of bicarbonate of soda when one of my roses had powdery mildew the other year & that seemed to work fine. Garden Organic say to use between 2g-10g per litre of water (more is likely to scorch the leaves). Here's their factsheet on it: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/dc12.php

[Deleted]

Thanks Juliet. I shall have to do some more research

[Deleted]

Keep some water with garlic cloves in it and spray your roses with these it will keep the aphids at bay. Also under plant your roses with Lavender and this keeps the aphids at bay too.

[Juliet]

Oh - and hang bird feeders/fat balls over the roses - the idea being that while birds queue for the feeders they'll eat some aphids.

You can also buy ladybirds if you have a problem with aphids - try here: www.greengardener.co.uk/aphidout.htm (NB the adults are easier to deal with than the larvae, which are very tiny & not very bright, so when you open the box they tend to crawl up your arm instead of onto the roses - & you don't need many adults for a small garden, they will soon multiply!!).