Roses called Queen of the flowers.Rose word came from Latin word ‘Rosa’.  It was originally from China and were wild , but now grown across the world in different colours,sizes and varieties.They widely used across as symbol of sympathy and love. Different colours with different meanings .The first Hybrid Tea rose was introduced in 1867 by Gean Baptised . 

            Now a days different varieties of roses grown in India and other countries like 

       A) Hybrid tea : - Hybrid tea came into existence after cross of hybrid perpetuals with Tea roses. They are well formed with large , high centre buds , supported by long upright stem. It is most popular  variety across the world. Flowers born singly with large size. 

Some popular varieties are moonstone , Admiral Rodney , American Heritage, Barbra bush etc.

        B) Grandiflora:- Grandiflora are combination of hybrid tea and floribunda . They born single or in cluster . Big in size in respect of floribunda but smaller than Hybrid Tea . The first Grandiflora was Queen Elizabeth. 

         C) Floribunda:- They are shorter bushes than hybrid tea . Blooms are smaller in size as compare to grandiflora, born in cluster. Good for landscaping. Now a days beautiful and attractive  colours are available . Some popular varieties are Angel face, Baby talk , Betty Boop , Blue girl , Blue For You etc.

           D) Polyantha:- Polyanthas plants are smaller in size and their flowers born in clusters with single or multi petals. There popular varieties are Pink puff , Yellow Fairy , Chatilion etc.

         E) Miniature:- Miniatures are very hardy plants in a small size , good for landscaping, easily identified by the size of the flowers. Some popular varieties of Miniatures are Baby love , Baby Baccra, Coco, Fire flash etc. 

         F) Shrubs:- They are well known for sprawling habit . Growing in different direction with large cluster of blooms. Mostly David Austin roses are Shrub roses. 

         G) Climbing Roses:-  These roses do not climb like other vines do . They can be manually trained with the help of support. Any varieties can be changed into climbing roses by grafting them . Some famous climbers are Cocktail, Dusky Maiden, Polka, prosperity etc.

          H) Tree Roses:- They are produced by grafting on long cane stock on the top . Any varieties of roses can be turned into the tress roses.

        I) Mini-flora:- Mini-floras are larger than miniature and smaller than floribunda . Some famous Mini-floras are Whirlaway , Leading Lady , Butter Cream, Robin Alonso etc.  

 

CARE AND CULTURE 

One of the common perception about Rose growing I encounter everywhere from common gardener is that ...

Are roses difficult to grow ?

My simple answer to them is Big No . Because  one has to understand the nature of Rose plant and one has to connect itself with them.

On this platform I want to share my views which I learnt in past few years . I am jotting down few points which are advisable for rose culture.

1. SELECTION OF LOCATION:

Selection of location is very important for successful rose growing. The selected location for rose should get full day sunlight. In the rose plantation make sure that other plants and trees should not share the same area and roses should receive cross winds all the time.

The location of rose plant should be free from dust.

2 . SELECTION OF ROSE PLANTS:

Selecting out a rose plant may sound easy , but rose growers often face wide range of colours , qualities and varieties like HT , floribunda , grandiflora, miniature and  polyentha. 

                       My suggestion to rose growers is that they should select the plant according to the weather condition of their area. 

3.SELECTION OF GROWING MEDIA:

Rose bushes must have well drained  and fertile media . The best PH range of media for roses should be 6-6.5 slightly acidic with Electricals conductivity less than 1 . I suggest everyone to use artificial media like cinder( khanger) or cocopit instead of natural soil for pot rose because they are inert and sterile . In such media the applied nutrients are available to the rose plant directly. But if you want to use soil in pots , in that case use following ratio - 40%garden soil, 60% cow dung . Add one handful bonemeal and neem cake in 12 inches pot . 

4.  FERTILIZER : Rose is heavy feeder and it requires regular feeding of macro nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as micro nutrients like iron , zinc , Boron etc. A high nitrogen dose is more effective for increasing stem length and high quality of flowers. Phosphorus is important for encouraging root growth and stimulating flowering. Potassium is responsible for hardiness of flower stem , better quality of bloom and increase resistance to disease. Foliar spray of micro nutrients is very effective in roses. One should not use any chemical nutrients for root feeding in soil . In that case only organic feeding should be applied as a root feeding and  chemical nutrients feeding only for foliar spray. During active growth and blooming stage rose plant needs more fertilising . In organic food mustard cake is very effective for rose plants . In micro nutrients role of iron is very important. Iron deficiency will lack chlorophyll which is very important for photosynthesis. We can cover the iron deficiency by putting small piece of iron nail in pot or by spraying chilated iron on leaves. So always look a balanced high quality rose Fertilizers that includes micro n macro nutrients. 

5. WATERING: Rose growing is the game of water . Roses love water but don't drown them. Showering of the rose plants on regular basis is the Thumb rule . They don't like wet feet,  so adequate drainage is must. 

6 INSECTICIDE AND PESTICIDE:

Good rose growing practice such as removing dead leaves n stems will help reduce diseases . Aphids, black spot , powdery mildew, spider mites , thrips and scale are common diseases in Rose. So using pesticides and insecticide on regular basis is advisable.

FEW IMPORTANT TIPS :-

1)Don't forget to feed 2gm MgSo4  with 4gm NPK per litre twice in a week. 

2) Don't forget to spray good quality micronutrients every week during season.

3) Don't add any chemical in your media if you are growing your plants in soil.

4) Mind it , any organic pesticides/fungicide is only protective , not curative.

5) But there is a Tea tree plants in Australia , by extract of that plant , one oil is going to be created which is the remedy  of thrips , mites and other many diseases .This is organic and it works as curative too.It is widely used by Australia and Israel. 

6) Solution of 2gm Potassium sulphate with 1 gm of Magnesium Nitrate in per litre water should be sprayed twice a month. 

7) One week prior to pruning and one week after pruning feed 00:52:34 , 2gm per litre to your rose plant. 

8) You can add 10:26:26 (Sufla) in soil too. It is one of the best fertiliser for roses . 

9) Don't forget to feed  half kg.Sarso Khali , one glass Rice water  and  50gm.DAP during flowering season Per week.  500 gm Sarso Khali is sufficient for 50-60 plants . After soaking them in water for three days you can drench that in each rose plant.  

10) During pruning always take care for eyes in branches and always remove those branch which are not growing straight and crossing each other . 

11) If you are growing roses in soil , clean the area around the roses and plough them on regular basis . After that add well rotted cowdung and lime water 

12) Spray German Tek and SAAF fungicide before and after pruning. Must spray SAAF once in a month with any insecticide you are using.

13) Melathion is best for scale disease.

14) Don’t feed roses after temperature of 40 degree Celsius. Just water them twice a day to make them survive. This is the tough time for them. 

15) Before pruning let them go in dormancy. During dormancy time no feeding and not much watering. 16) Start feeding them after 15 days of pruning.

17) Potassium Nitrate 2gm per litre should spray when we see the buds in the size of pea. 

18) Actamiprid 20% with any insecticide is good for thrips and teramite for spider..

19) Don’t use any insecticide or pesticide in the morning. It can harm useful insects like honeybees etc. Always apply them in the evening.

20) Super sonata is one of the best  micronutrients as well as insecticide for roses . It should be sprayed in the ratio of 1.5 ml per litre . For organic fertiliser Noval agro is best for roses.

Rahul Kumar 

Advocate 

New Delhi