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The main thing that makes or breaks habitat for beneficials is a water source. This is a MUST. Period. You must have some source of water, or they will not stick around. A bird bath, a fountain, a small pond, even a shallow dish you fill daily. They need water, just like you and me.
Whiteflies can be a frustrating pest. They are a soft bodied insect (they’re related to aphids) but unlike aphids who don’t move much, whiteflies are agile and very fast. This makes it difficult to control them. Whiteflies suck sap from the bottom sides of the leaves, making it difficult to spot them until they have a huge population, and they can be very damaging to your plant. Whiteflies are best controlled by parasitic wasps.
Alternative Methods: Spray ’Em, Neem Oil, Spinosad
Good ol’ caterpillars. When they turn into butterflies, we love them as our pollinating friends. Unfortunately, many types of moths lay eggs that turn into cutworms and army worms, which can quickly decimate the buds and leaves of your roses. Populations can unfold quickly, and can be hard to spot as the caterpillars roll leaves into tiny tents and burrow into buds. However, the damage is quickly noticeable with tattered blooms and holes in leaves. Thankfully, caterpillars are a rare, juicy meal for many beneficials. They are prized for food by birds, wasps, dragonflies, robber flies, assassin bugs, lizards, spiders, frogs, and toads. There are also parasitic wasps that will prey upon caterpillars.
Alternative Methods: Squish ’Em, BT
Beetles. That one word is the bane of many gardeners existence. While thankfully beetles rarely compromise the health of a plant, even in large numbers, they can definitely cause mass carnage to buds and blooms. There are many types of beetles, including June Bugs, Cucumber Beetles, Japanese Beetles, Rose Chafers, and various other species. Beetles are eaten by larger predators, such as birds, lizards, spiders, assassin bugs, wasps, and praying mantids. It is important to understand their life cycle, which is the young exist underground as grubs. Beneficial nematodes can help with beetle larvae.
So far on this list we haven’t seen anything that is likely to kill your rose. That changes now. Spider mites are one of the most destructive pest, just based upon sheer number and an insatiable appetite. The first signs of spider mites are oddly discolored, stippled leaves, and at more mature stages, webbing around the leaves of your plant. It may also feel “dusty“ to the touch. Spider mites can and do kill plants, so it is extremely important to take care of them as soon as you see signs. The best control is predatory mites, as well as making sure your rose is well watered. Spider mites dislike wet environments. If you don’t have predatory mites yet, and you have spider mites, I highly recommend using alternative methods to destroy the population BEFORE releasing beneficials.
Sawfly larvae (also called rose slugs) look like caterpillars but are actually closer related to wasps, bees, and ants. This means that BT, which kills caterpillars only, unfortunately does not affect them at all. These voracious eaters can strip your rose bare in a very short time period. Sawflies are luckily very easy to see, as their damage is very apparent right away. Many beneficials feed on these juicy larvae, including birds, lizards, and wasps. Spinosad is typically the most effective alternative method besides squishing and dunking! Make sure you check the undersides of the leaves, and if necessary, spray both top and bottom sides of the leaves.
Thrips are the nemesis of any gardener looking to enjoy the blooms. There are two primary species of thrips here in the US: the western flower thrip and chili thrips. Each causes different damage and must be controlled differently.
Western flower thrips attack buds and blooms. You will notice brown edges of petals and disfigured blooms. When the bloom is open, you can see these pests by pulling back the petals and looking towards the center of the bloom. They are small, long creatures. Thrips suck the juices from the petals.
Chili thrips are a much worse pest. Not only do they attack blooms and buds like the western flower thrip, they also unfortunately attack the foliage of your plant, causing extreme distortion and little black “scorch” marks on the leaves. Thrips are extremely resilient, and can become resistant to pesticides. For this reason, we recommend a spray cycle, and then releasing beneficials. Minute pirate bugs are voracious thrip predators, and predatory mites will eat immature thrips as well. Lacewings and ladybugs do also feed upon thrips, but are not the most efficient predators as they tend to go for larger prey.
Rose midge are pests you’ll likely never see. They resemble tiny mosquitos, and have a very short lifespan. Luckily, rose midge are not very common pests, but if you keep having buds turn black and fall off, you may have a midge issue. The females lay their eggs into the buds, and the pupae eat through the tissue. Unfortunately I do not know of a predator that is efficient for rose midge. Alternative methods are the best course of action.
Grasshoppers, crickets, and planthoppers are common pests that eats pretty much every part of your rose! They love munching on anything they can get their mouths on. These are larger insects, capable of doing large amounts of damage by themselves. Thankfully, big and juicy means that they are a great meal for lots of larger beneficials. Birds, wasps, praying mantids, dragonflies, assassin bugs, robberflies, lizards, spiders, toads, frogs, even snakes will munch on these baddies. I highly recommend squishing them when you see them to keep the population in check.
Adults are very small and look like tiny winged beetles. Pirate bugs are no joke, and are voracious eaters. Their favorite food is thrips, but will also feed on mites and other small insects and eggs, as well as pollen if no insects are available. All stages are predatory.
These scary looking insects are highly predatory, and will use their mouth to piece and eat many types of pests, including larger sized pests.
Pretty self explanatory! Glove up, and use your fingers to manually squash as many as you can find.
Spray your plant down with a strong blast of water from the hose. Don’t worry, your roses are tough! Pop out the jet setting and blast them from a few feet away. How far can you knock them?
Neem oil is a natural extract from a tree. There are two types of neem. Cold pressed neem leaves a reside for a few days, and can potentially harm pollinators. We recommend NOT using cold pressed neem, and instead use regular neem oil. Regular neem is non-toxic after it’s dry, which is just a few minutes. IMPORTANT: never EVER spray anything during the daytime. Always spray in the late evening. Neem oil is an oil, and it can fry your leaves if they are in direct sun while wet.
Spinosad is a naturally occurring bacteria that affects mainly soft bodied insects. Once the bad bug has ingested this bacteria, they die. Mix according to instructions and spray both the top AND bottom of the leaves. As always, only spray in late evenings. Do not get spinosad on any pollinators directly, and avoid host plants like milkweed.
Insecticidal soap is a gentle, soapy mixture that suffocates pests when applied directly. This is ideal for when you see a pest directly. As always, avoid spraying in direct sunlight. Do not spray on pollinators or beneficial insects.
BT is another natural bacteria that, when ingested, kill the pest. BT specifically only affects caterpillars from moths and butterflies, so use caution when spraying. This is ideal for cutworms and army worms, both of who love roses.
Rotation spraying isn’t fun, but can be necessary with resilient pests. We always rotate 3 sprays, you are free to choose, but we use neem, spinosad, and insecticidal soap. To rotate, in the late evening, choose 1, and spray your plants down very well. Wait a few days, and then switch to the next spray. In the evening, spray your plant down well again. Wait a few more days, and then spray the final spray on your plant, covering surface area thoroughly. By rotating sprays, nobody can build up resistance to anything, and you’re catching them in pretty much every stage of life. After your final spray, wait a few more days, and then release proper beneficials for the pest you’re dealing with. Do NOT release beneficials and THEN spray. You will waste your money because sprays unfortunately kill everything. We only rotate spray if we have a very large infestation, and as a last resort.
Prune out affected canes until the center of the cane (the pith) is healthy and green. Even if it means pruning the whole cane down! Get rid of the damaged portions. After you reach healthy tissue, seal the cut with a proper pruning sealant, preferably labeled for roses.
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Thank you so much, this is very helpful! I am new to roses, and every day my bareroots are full of aphids. I have been going out to the garden almost daily to brush off the aphids. Should I stop doing this and let then live on the roses in order to attract the beneficial insects? Thanks again so much for this great info!