Spider Mites on my Rose Bush

NeoDevin

I have a 3 foot rose bush, in a pot, on my balcony. A while ago it got some spider mites from somewhere, but I didn't think much of them at first (BIG MISTAKE). Since then it has become mostly coated in them. I tried hosing it down, to wash them off, they came back in a couple of days. I tried spraying with raid (the crawling bug kind, that's supposed to keep on killing for about 6weeks), this worked for the rest of my plants, but not this one rose bush, they came back after about a week. This rose bush is sitting on my balcony, with the rest of my plants inside. I need to get rid of them before I bring it back in with the rest of my plants, and I need to bring it in before it gets too cold here. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them permanently? I really would hate to lose this bush, it's the only yellow rose bush I have. It's looking pretty sick from its battle with the mites, and aphids before that (the aphids died quickly though), I'm hoping that if I can get rid of the bugs, the plant will recover next year.

turbo

I don't know if this is safe for roses or not, but last year I lost most of my apples to insect damage, so this year, I sprayed it with canola oil, using a hose sprayer. My purpose was to smother the eggs, larvae and feeding adults by blocking their access to oxygen. My apples are almost entirely bug-free. No insect damage to speak of, no worm-holes, and the leaves and bark are in good condition. This is a non-toxic way of dealing with the bugs, and it has worked great. After every soaking rain, I'd just go out and give the trees another spraying to keep up the protection. Big upside is that canola oil is really cheap compared to insecticides and it won't leave toxins in the soil or on the trees.

larkspur

Bayer makes a Systemic Rose and Flower Care that has worked well for me. One of my rose bushes was attacked by mites and this product helped. You just have to keep up with the schedule and remember to reapply when the label recommends or they will be back.

Evo

You're going to have to get a spider mite for roses killer, new soil and a new pot. When you get the rose bush mite killer, take the rose out of the pot, and rinse all of the dirt off the roots, gently, try not to damage the roots since it is not yet dormant, don't worry, roses can handle this, get rid of the pot. Wash the leaves off under running water also, gently rubbing the leaves. Wait for the leaves to dry. Use the spidermite killer as directed, making sure to coat both top and bottom of all leaves. Repot the bush in the new soil and pot. Do you know how to build a mound of soil then center the crown over the peak of dirt and spread the roots down, then gently fill with soil, be sure to knock occasionally to get air pockets out. You don't want to cover the graft area (this is where the hybrid is grafted onto the stock).

DO NOT LET IT GET NEAR your other plants until the mites are gone. If your rose isn't too sick, it should snap back, but it *will* lose all of the leaves that the mites infected. I was for years involved with the American Rose Society and had over 100 bushes.

The reason the mites came back is because they were in the soil. Nasty little things.

NeoDevin

What is a hose sprayer? Living in an appartment, I don't have a hose. I will look for this product by bayer.

Evo

Don't spray it with canola oil, you'll soon just have a dead, oily, rose bush. Your rose needs help.

NeoDevin

That will be all the leaves on the plant. I have two other rose bushes, they both also got infected by the mites. One lost all of its leaves, the other lost less than a quarter of it's leaves. The other two were fixed by washing and spraying with raid. It's been a couple of weeks since I've seen any sign of mites on those two, but this one they won't seem to go away.

Evo

Get rid of the dirt. That's the hard part of gardening in containers.

NeoDevin

If I'm expecting to lose all the leaves anyways, should I just remove them myself, and save washing each leaf? then use the mite killer on the stems and roots?

I'll go pick up some spider mite killer for roses as soon as I have a chance.

turbo

You learn something new every day, like it or not. I didn't know that spider mites lived in the potting soil. Most apple pests deposit eggs on blossoms or crevices in bark, etc, and are exposed enough to kill with oil. In fact, Concern brand dormant oil for fruit trees is almost entirely canola oil, which is why I went to the pure stuff this season. When applied with a hose sprayer, the dilution factor keeps the oil layer very thin. I applied it just before the buds opened, and periodically (after rains) when the petals fell off. I've got my father and neighbors convinced to use canola next year.

NeoDevin

Also, it's on its own roots, no graft

Evo

What you did with the canola spray is perfect for what you were doing.

Once a rose is infected with mites, it's too late for preventive measures.

Evo

It has to be grafted, hybridized roses are always grafted. It's not a wild or antique rose is it? Do you know the name of the rose?

NeoDevin

I don't know what the name of it is, but it grows new stalks from the roots that are the same as the rest, so I know it's not grafted.

Evo

It's not a hybrid then. I'd be interested to see what it is. Antique roses can be grown from cuttings.

I had a beautiful hybrid yellow rose that died, but the root stalk it was grafted to started growing and produces red roses that are almost black.

turbo

Interesting. So if you do some splits off the roots when you're disinfecting it, you could propagate this yellow rose. I had been out of gardening for over 30 years, and in the last couple of years or so (since we moved out into the woods), I've been jumping back in with both feet. I've been tempted to dig up wild roses from across the road (growing on the road-side) and start a hedge of them along our front patio to provide more privacy, keep the bees happy, and keep that sweet wild-rose scent wafting in our front windows all summer. I like the cultivars and hybrids, but wild roses are so beautiful. In the Annapolis Royal Gardens on the Bay of Fundy shore of Nova Scotia, there is a European-style garden maze made entirely of wild roses. My wife and I took my mother-in-law and her sister there on a trip to Maritime Canada to thank her for caring for my wife during her convalescence after a serious accident. I did my homework for months and picked out places that I thought these older ladies might like to visit, and I had a blast at every destination. The Annapolis Royal Gardens were beautiful, and I got a 17th century engineering lesson in dike-construction and soil desalinization there as well as looking at reconstructions of colonial gardens and traditional European gardens, and when we visited the Evangeline Chapel (symbolic of the Acadian diaspora) I wandered around out back while the ladies were in the church only to find a lovely young parks guide eager to educate me in the operation of a restored blacksmith shop, including slings and ratcheting lifts to elevate oxen so they could be shod, and showing how mud-shoes were fitted to their feed (much like snow-shoes) so that they could plow recovered mud flats without getting mired in the mud. The tools, forge, and other amenities were great.

NeoDevin

If/when it recovers, I'll post a picture for you. If you really want, I could try to start a cutting for you, and mail it to you...

I've never had much luck with cuttings though...