The best protection against disease is robust rose varieties and a suitable location. Of course, this also includes an even supply of water and nutrients. You need a little instinct, because too much of a good thing leads to the fact that the roses develop soft, less resistant tissue. There is really no such thing as the best protection against pests. The only thing that helps here is a natural garden design or the promotion of beneficial organisms. Insect hotels and the like do a good job. It is also important to detect pests at an early stage so that they cannot spread in the first place and then become a nuisance. So check your roses for pests regularly, at least once a week. We have put together here how you can recognize the pests, how to prevent them and how to fight them. Take a look if you’re having trouble with your roses.
Table of Contents
Rose aphid
Rose aphids in particular prick the tender shoot tips and buds in order to suck up the sugary plant sap. They sit in colonies on the parts of the plant. They are the size of a pinhead and can appear green, black, red, or yellowish in color. In manageable quantities, they hardly cause any damage. It gets bad when they multiply a lot. This mainly happens when spring or summer is very warm and dry. The pests multiply explosively. Then the leaves curl.
Prevent
Strengthen plants. There are plant strengtheners that you can make yourself or buy. It is also beneficial to encourage beneficial organisms in the garden. You should always keep an eye on your roses. Aphids reproduce rapidly. It’s good if you can find them beforehand and prevent that.
Combat
If the infestation is low, hosing down with the garden hose, which has to be repeated several times on consecutive days, usually helps. Of course, you shouldn’t go too hard to avoid damaging the rose. You can also wipe off the pests with your fingers. Anyone who is disgusted puts on gloves.
Lacewing and their larvae are natural enemies of aphids. Ladybugs do a good job too. But these are becoming increasingly rare. Hoverfly larvae also keep the suckers in check. In order to protect the beneficial insects, one should not resort to chemicals in the case of severe aphid infestation, but always use preparations based on soap or apse oil first!
Nettle stock helps against aphids. Add 1 kg of nettles to 5 to 10 liters of water, let stand for 1 to 3 days and spray undiluted! A home remedy is to make a soapy solution and inject it with it. 100 g curd soap to 2 liters of water plus 150 ml of alcohol. If the infestation is severe, it is advisable to use a neem-based agent. It is effective and biological. The important thing is to control the ants that keep aphids as pets and milk them. They drag the lice to the tips of the shoots because they can milk them better there. This is where the pests spread. The ants are best fought in their nests and on the paths. If the ants are gone, the aphid problem will decrease significantly.
Rose petal wasp
Harming
From Blattläsusen or spider mites Roses stricken in planters are special cases. There is a simple solution for them, plant protection suppositories or sticks. These are simply pressed into the potting soil. The active ingredients are distributed with the flow of sap in the rose and fight sucking insects over a longer period of time.
The infestation with rose wasps can be recognized by the closely rolled rose petals (leaf cigars). You don’t get to see adult insects. The phenomenon occurs from May. The eggs are laid in the leaf margins from late April to early June. These swell and curl up. A lack of water is often assumed, but it
has nothing to do with it. You notice this at the latest when such a sheet is unrolled. Inside, the larvae of the rose petal wasp have made themselves comfortable.
They are 5 to 10 mm long, initially whitish, then green and very voracious. From July the larvae drop to the ground and the cycle starts all over again.
Prevention Check
regularly and watch out for rolled up leaves!
Combat
Remove and dispose of infected leaves!
Chemistry is not necessary. The larvae, which are well protected in their leaves, can usually not be reached with chemicals anyway. It is therefore better to cut off the leaves. They must be disposed of with the residual waste. If you leave the leaves on, the larvae drop out of the leaves onto the ground, where they overwinter in the ground and pupate in the next spring.
Rose petals
Damage
The rose petal wasp can be recognized by its glossy black appearance. The wasps, which do not appear every year, fly from May to June and lay their eggs on the underside of the rose petals. The eggs give rise to green, snail-like larvae with a yellow underside. They grow to about 1 cm, eat their fill on the rose leaves and
then pupate in the ground. The damage on the leaf is easy to see. The skin on the upper side of the leaf is scraped off over a large area. What remains is an almost transparent skeleton.
Prevention
There is no prevention.
Control
Only fight with approved plant protection products. They must be directed against stinging, sucking and biting insects, because then you fight rose petal wasp, rose petal wasp and aphids in one spray.
Rosenzikaden
Damage
can be recognized by the white speckles on the upper side of the leaf. The tiny, light green or yellowish insects occur mainly in hot, dry locations. They sit on the underside of the leaves and jump up when the leaves are touched. The first generation occurs from May to July, the second in August to September. The latter lays its eggs in the shoots. It is therefore important to cut off infected parts of the plant in autumn!
Prevention
As a preventive measure you should avoid locations that are too sunny, i.e. on the south side and in front of house walls. It is important that the rose has a balanced supply of nutrients so that it is healthy and resilient, then rose leafhoppers are no problem either.
Combat
As a rule, no chemicals have to be used. A vigorous pruning in autumn is sufficient. If you use insecticides, they have to be sprayed specifically on the underside of the leaf!
Spider mites
Spider mite damage occurs mainly in pots, but can also occur in roses that have been planted out. Covered locations are particularly at risk. The pests suckle on the underside of the leaves. The foliage appears speckled and browned. If the infestation is severe, a web develops. This is easy to see if you lightly spray it with water. Of course, it’s better not to let it get that far.
Prevention
Prevention is better than cure here. Therefore, roses should not be planted in hot and dry locations. A distance to a wall is also important. It should be at least 10 cm so that heat cannot build up. Spider mites love dry air. They do not like high humidity and do not get along well with wind.
Fight
You can fight spider mites with acrid nettle broth. In an emergency you have to inject, but then with a beneficial agent-friendly agent.
Nettle broth – add 1 kg of fresh nettles to 10 liters of water. Use after one to three days at the latest!
Spider mites are difficult to control. You can fight either the eggs or the adults. Most of the time the larvae survive. So you have to repeat the fight several times.
Sometimes it is better to cut off the affected shoots, then you have much more peace and quiet again.
Potted plants are placed in the wind. You can also increase the humidity by spraying. Usually the pests then seek the distance.
Roses in plant pots that are afflicted by aphids or spider mites are special cases. There is a simple solution for them, plant protection suppositories or sticks. These are simply pressed into the potting soil. The active ingredients are distributed with the flow of sap in the rose and fight sucking insects over a longer period of time.
Rosenwickler
Damage picture
The rose moth is a brown butterfly that prefers roses. It mainly attacks young leaves, shoots and buds, which it riddles with innumerable holes.
Buds are eaten and several leaves stick together at the shoot tips. You can see the little caterpillars there like in a net. They pupate in it.
Rose moths lay their eggs directly on the branches of the rose in August / September. The caterpillars hatch in spring and start to eat right away. They pupate and hatch as moths in July.
Prevention
It is not possible to take a bow.
Combat
The easiest thing to do is to collect the caterpillars.
Otherwise you should cut back the roses. Cut off affected shoots far enough so that all affected areas are removed.
The caterpillars can also be sprayed. An agent based on rapeseed oil is ideal, but the caterpillars must be sprayed directly. It is biological and harmless to all beneficial insects.
Bacillus thuringiensis (variety aizawaii (Bt) is a naturally occurring soil bacterium. The preparation XenTari is approved for the home garden. There are also numerous chemical agents, insecticides, that work against the rose moth.
Rose shoots
Damaged rose
shoots are an annoying thing. The larvae of the beetle eat their way through the white pulp in the shoots. You can see the boreholes through which the larvae leave the shoots. These are usually located above a leaf base or below a spike.
Prevention
There is nothing more you can do to prevent it. However, it is important to pay attention to the drill holes from mid-May or to the drill dust that the larvae leave behind.
Control
Infested shoots must be cut off and disposed of as quickly as possible, always in the residual waste bin!
Rosengall wasps
Damage
The rose gall wasp mainly attacks wild roses. Their white larvae cause the plant tissue to swell into ball-like, moss-covered structures. Inside, the pests develop into adult insects.
Prevention
Prevention is hardly possible.
Fight
the wasps One does not have to fight. At most, you can cut off the galls and shoots and dispose of them in the residual waste.
Common rose beetle, gold beetle
Damage
The rose beetle is actually pretty. It is about 1.5 cm tall and has a golden green shimmer. The beetle likes to sit in the rose petals and eat around the inside. He especially likes young shoots. You can see the eaten flowers and shoots.
Rosenkäfer
prevention can not, but the beetles are usually sporadic and rarely stay long. However, what the common rose beetle likes very much can be removed from the garden, such as queasy tree stumps or large compost heaps. The beetle also loves moldy garden soil, so get rid of it.
But it can happen that hundreds of beetles spread in the garden. Then you should do something about them, otherwise not much will be left of the rose petals.
Combat
The simplest method is to collect. The best time to do this is early in the morning. Then the beetles sit quietly on a flower and do not move. You can
read them in in peace . Only at higher temperatures does the beetle become agile and difficult to catch.
Agent against stinging, biting and sucking insects
Spruzit® New from Neudorff
- Approved for growing vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants. (To assume that it is therefore not harmful to anyone)
- Active against adult insects, larvae and ice stages
- Fast action
- Combination of two natural ingredients, rapeseed oil and natural pyrethrum (type of chrysanthemum)
Nature
- Emulsion from rapeseed oil and water
- Effective against lice, spider mites, whitefly and scale insects
Celaflor Combi-Rose spray
- Against sucking and biting pests and against the three typical fungal diseases of roses
- Systemic remedy, that is, penetrates the rose
- Not dangerous for bees
Bayer pest-free calypso
- Among other things against aphids, rose buds, sawfly, roller wasps, leaf-eating beetles and their larvae and spider mites
- Contact effect and systemic effect
- Not dangerous for bees
- Can also be used in the house as a casting agent
Conclusion
There are a lot of pests that can affect our roses. There is hardly anything that can be done preventively against many. It is always important to choose a good plant, because healthy rose varieties are tougher and can cope better with the infestation. The decisive factors are an ideal location and good maintenance. Plant strengtheners help roses cope better with diseases and pests. Pests have to be detected early so that they cannot spread. When fighting you should stick to biological means and only use chemicals in an emergency!
