Anyone who wants to successfully cultivate and perhaps also breed roses should not resort to lethal injections. The right choice of variety is much more promising. This also applies to one of the most common and feared rose diseases: rose rust.
Rose rust is a feared rose disease that is unfortunately quite common
Modern roses are healthier
In recent decades, rose breeding has made great strides in terms of developing new varieties that are less susceptible to leaf diseases such as blackspot, powdery mildew or rose rust. Sensitive, older varieties come from a time when health was not a rose grower's number one goal; correspondingly often they had to spray their roses with environmentally harmful chemicals. However, these remedies have long since been taken off the market and most breeders are concentrating on developing leaf-healthy strains. However, no rose is completely immune to fungal diseases, although many newer varieties are so unaffected that they don't need to be sprayed.
recognize rose rust
Rose rust occurs mainly in very humid weather. Heralds of rose rust are small, orange-red and calloused spots that appear on the shoots in spring and cover the entire underside of the leaf with yellow-orange spots in summer. Orange-red, later black pustules appear on the underside of the leaves. Infection with this harmful fungus occurs above all in high humidity (e.g. in damp summers or when watering is incorrect), and roses in loamy, compacted soil are particularly at risk. The fungal spores overwinter on the underside of the foliage. These are rust-red and dusty dots.
Prevent and combat rose rust
The most important measure to prevent rose rust is a suitable location. The soil should be well aerated and loose; Soil that is too firm can be loosened by mixing in sand and compost. You should also make sure when watering that the leaves of the rose are not moistened or can dry out quickly after a downpour. For this reason, an airy but not draughty location is recommended for roses. You should collect and dispose of affected leaves immediately in summer; Leaves that have fallen off in winter should be raked off.
Home remedies for rose rust
You can also spray infested roses with field horsetail broth, which is easy to make yourself, and disinfect them in this way. In addition to field horsetail, comfrey, garlic or tansy broth are also suitable. Spray them about every two weeks when the leaves begin to sprout.
tips
When buying, pay particular attention to the so-called ADR varieties, these are tested roses that are particularly resistant to fungi.