Beating diseases and pests

ROSES: WET WEATHER WORRIES

- Ludwig Taschner

Pruning tall bushes or those that need to be thinned out done in January.

Nobody's complaining about the rain, but it seems to be the lore of gardening that when one problem is solved, others pop up in its place.

While the roses have grown rapidly, the current weather pattern of heat, humidity and rain interspersed with overcast days is also ideal for activating fungus diseases like black spot and powdery mildew.

The curse of black spot When leaves remain wet for six hours or more black spot spores, which are dormant in every garden, will be spread onto the leaves and start to develop.

Especially if it rains late in the afternoon or at night the leaves stay wet and the spores are absorbed into the leaves soon after showing up as black spots.

Black spot is easily identified because it is simply a black spot on the leaf. The leaves try to prevent the spreading of the fungus and turn yellow around such spots. With too many spots the spotted yellow leaves will drop.

Without leaves bushes become susceptible to sunburn and stem canker, flowering stops and the bush looks scraggly and could die.