- You do not have to spend a ton of money when it comes to caring for your rose bushes; you can help cure them of diseases with ingredients around your house. One great fungicide recommended by the Montreal Botanical Gardens is made with baking soda and dish soap. Just add 1 tsp. of baking soda and 1 tsp. of dish soap to about 4 cups of warm water. Mix the solution well and put it in a spray bottle. (Stir the ingredients together to mix it; otherwise, the soap will foam and it will not be effective in the spray bottle.) After you've removed all of the infected leaves, spray the top and bottom of the remaining leaves with this solution to control the disease.
A solution for seedlings is to steep about 7 g (5 tbsp.) of dried chamomile flowers in one liter (4 cups) of hot or boiling water. Once it cools down, it controls and prevents damping off when you spray it on seedlings. (It also makes an excellent tea). - Soap solutions are equally effective as pesticides, but there are other solutions to control the bugs threatening your beautiful rose bushes. If the soap solutions are not working, you can add a few cloves of crushed garlic or chili to the solution. Before you spray your plants, filter out any solids from your solution. Be extremely careful about how much garlic or chili you add, because you risk burning your plant if it is too strong.
The soap solution with garlic or chili will also prevent larger predators like deer and rabbits from coming near your plants.
To keep fungus gnats and whiteflies at bay, you can catch them in a sticky, alluring trap. By painting cardboard or large cards with waterproof yellow paint, and applying petroleum jelly to the card (make sure the paint is dry first), you can lure the insects away from your roses. - When watering your rose bushes, be sure to aim your hose towards the roots, not the leaves. This will help prevent the leaves from developing mold, mildew or blights. Before treating your entire plant, test your solutions on a few leaves. If the leaves show sings of distress, such as discoloration, staining or dying, then your solution needs to be diluted.
- Always wear protective gloves to avoid getting these solutions on your skin, and consider wearing goggles to prevent getting them in your eyes. Even though the remedies are natural and homemade, they could hurt you. When treating your plants, avoid extremely hot, sunny, dry or windy days, since your solution will not be as effective, and may harm your plant before doing any good. Do not over-treat your plants because these remedies might kill the useful bacteria, fungi and insects as easily as the harmful ones.
- If you cannot find enough information at your local library, you should contact local florists, nurseries or your local botanical society to determine the best way to make and keep your rose bushes free of diseases and insects.
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