Content
- Should you lime roses - or rather not?
- Lime roses or not?
- Calcium chlorosis is one of the most common rosacea diseases
- How to treat a lime chlorosis
- Tips
Roses do not need to be whitewashed
Should you lime roses - or rather not?
Roses are pronounced strong-tasters, If you want to enjoy them for a long time, then regular fertilization is essential, the plant should be supplied with essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, manganese and magnesium - but not in excess! Calcium or lime is not one of them, on the contrary: you should better avoid using lime fertilizer.
Lime roses or not?
In some garden guidebook it can be read that roses are necessarily limed a few weeks before planting in order to adjust the pH of the soil to the optimum value between 6 and 6.5. If this were not done, there would be a threat of deficiency growth and the flowering would not be as abundant as desired. Well, you can be carefree: In this country, the liming of the soil can be dispensed with very well, without any damage to be feared - there are rare exceptions, of course, but for this reason you should have a soil analysis before planting to be on the safe side.
Calcium chlorosis is one of the most common rosacea diseases
Instead of lime, lime chlorosis is one of the most common deficiency symptoms in roses. Too much calcium makes it difficult to pick up iron compounds because lime binds the important nutrient iron in the soil. As a result, a very calcareous soil often leads to iron deficiency. The leaves remain small and turn pale yellow, only the leaf veins remain green. Yellow or chlorotic leaves are common in rugosaroses (i.e., potato roses), which grow on loamy, misted soils. Moisture and a poor drainage can also lead to chlorosis in other roses.
How to treat a lime chlorosis
In the case of lime chlorosis, remedy the situation by first loosening the soil and working iron chelates into the soil or injecting iron preparations; Let them advise you on this in specialist shops. On the other hand, limescale should only be applied to the soil if the pH is below 6 (exception: Rosa rugosa). You can measure the pH yourself regularly with a suitable pH set from specialist retailers. Otherwise, it is advisable to have a soil analysis every three to four years. Agricultural investigation offices prepare detailed analyzes and also provide fertilizer recommendations.
Tips
In addition to a lime chlorosis occurs in incorrectly fertilized roses and a quick nitrogen excess. This leads to soft parts of the plant, which are heavily attacked by aphids. An over-fertilization with nitrogen can be remedied with potassium.