It looks like even though I’ve sprayed my roses quite regularly, they managed to get a little fungus. It looks like white powder on the leaves of my roses. And, I think it might be the dreaded “Powdery Mildew“.
A fungus generally grows in damp conditions, which is quite bad, considering roses need water, which, if you’re not careful, can lead to damp leaves…
I think the main culprits for my roses getting the fungus are the following:
– Watering the roses in the mid afternoon doesn’t give the sun time to dry the leaves before the evening
– With winter coming, they are receiving more shade, especially with the sun setting earlier, which is part of the reason above
– When watering the roses with a hose, it’s quite hard NOT to get the leaves wet. It’s not a BAD thing if they are, as long as they can dry, but they definitely shouldn’t stay wet.
So, I eventually managed to get rid of the fungus using a product called “efekto Funginex“. From the side of the box, here’s what it is/does:
An emulsifiable concentrate systematic fungicide for the control of powdery mildew, black spot and rust on various ornamentals and powdery mildew and rust on several edible crops.
I’ve bought the bottle that contains the concentrate so that I can mix it myself. This gives you more control over how much you use (more at first, then slowly using less and less), and it turns out to be a LOT cheaper than buying the already mixed spray.
Another way to prevent powdery mildew and other fungi is to change the way you water your plants. Which is what I did, and what I’ll talk about in another post…