GARS organic gardening series
Let’s face it – roses need some help to stay bug and disease free.
And if you are Southern gardener like us, the struggle against powdery mildew, black spot and aphids is real. Keeping a garden pest and disease free can be a challenge for any gardener, but especially for anyone trying to do an organic garden. Knowing when to do what, which product to use – it can be bewildering.
This rose: Marjory Palmer
Organic gardening series kicked off in June
In case you missed the June meeting, Ryan McGarry, Territory Sales Manager for Bonide kicked off our organic gardening series with a presentation on how to keep your roses protected against disease and pests. Key takeaway? Preventative and early treatment are essential. Once advanced disease and pests are in the garden, there are no great options to stop it for organic gardening.
McGarry gave some key tips to help stay ahead of disease including:
Water in the early morning for two main reasons; it allows the plant to absorb more water than watering mid-day when water will evaporate. It also allows the soil to dry out before nighttime. Cooling temperature in a wet environment will allow for more disease pressure.
Don’t overwater.
When watering, water the soil and avoid wetting leaves especially if disease is already present.
Remove infected sections of plant and destroy.
Wash scissors/pruners between each cut to prevent cross contamination.
During the presentation, McGarry also highlighted some key products from Bonide but one that stood out was their NeemMax – which is a 4 in 1 organic product. NeemMax is an insecticide, fungicide, miticide and nematicide. Safe enough to use on fruits and vegetables on same day harvest, it helps control mold and mildew and fights off several of the pests we love to hate.
A slide show of some of their additional key products has been emailed out to GARS group. But you can also go to the Bonide website to cross reference what product you should get for your specific garden problem.
Bonide color-coded system
Another highlight was the explanation of the color-coded system Bonide uses to help you easily identify products.
Green
Weed
control
Red
Insect
control
Orange
Disease
control
White
Combination control
Yellow
Repellent control
Purple
Synthetic / chemical
Tan
Natural / organic
GARS organic series continues September 14 with Jessica Jordan on worm composting – how to keep food waste out of landfills and turn it into compost for your roses. On October 5 Christopher Huffer presents how to choose the right roses for your garden. If you start with the right rose, you can keep your garden organic with greater ease.
Bonide is an American company based out of New York and has the seal of approval on many of their products by the American Rose Society.
