I overfertilized my rose plant and it got burned or a disease overnight. What can I do?

Question

The leaves look speckled and some have already turned yellow. It looks very unhealthy.

Answer 1

I would say you over-fertilized them. It is entirely toooo hot to fertilize this time of year. There is nothing you can do that will undo the damage. You can begin today by watering very regularly with straight water to reestablish fresh growth. You should only fertilize roses in the late fall or early spring and use a fertilizer made especially for roses. I'm sorry. Sometimes we want to help and the beautiful things do very well on their own.

Answer 2

Synthetic fertilizer has the potential to burn your plants with too much soluble nitrogen. Water as much as possible to wash it away from the plant. Unfortunately, this is an extremely irresponsible practice that will harm the ecosystem of your nearby streams, rivers, and/or lakes. But it's too late now, the damage is already done.

In the future, consider using organic fertilizers. With only a few exceptions (like blood meal), the nitrogen in organic fertilizers takes several weeks to break down. This makes it nearly impossible to over-fertilize and burn your plants (even in the heat of summer).

If you absolutely must use synthetic fertilizers (even though I can't think of a single reason why you should), look for slow-release types, so you won't shock your plants with an instant burst of nitrogen.

Answer 3

water, water, water. Fertilizer burn is salt burn. Flooding the area will leach away the nitrogen. The phosphorus won't move worth a hoot, but I suspect you'll get more than enough relief by getting the nitrogen out of there. You must have been quite generous!