Which Fertilizer Is Best for Roses?

Roses are popular flowers around the world and are available in all forms, colors, shapes and sizes. However, growing these flowers can be a challenging task, because they need proper nutrients and soil to thrive. The need for a good fertilizer cannot be ignored. For roses, a slow-release fertilizer is required as harsh ones may burn their roots.

Whichever fertilizer you choose for your roses, it should contain all the three nutrients necessary for their growth. These are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen helps in promoting growth of leaf and stem, gives deep green color to the leaves and stimulates the growth of the plant in early spring season. Phosphorus proves to be helpful in the growth of the root and production of the flowers. Potassium is an essential nutrient which helps in regulating metabolism of the flowers and provides hardiness, good color, disease resistance power and vigor to the plant. The fertilizer that contains all these three nutrients is a complete one for the rose.

The fertilizer that you choose for roses should have a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium ratio of 1-to-2-to-1, 1-to-2-to-2 or 2-to-3-to-1. Relatively lower ratios of nitrogen will keep your rose plant from producing green leaves and will also suspend the production of flowers.

The rose is a delicate plant and a harsh fertilizer may burn its roots completely. Whether you are choosing an organic fertilizer for your rose or an inorganic one, it should be a slow-release fertilizer which releases its nutrients over a period of three to nine months. Most of these fertilizers need to be applied only once in a year and the release is activated by high soil temperature and soil moisture. In order to know whether a fertilizer is of slow release type or not, you should look at the percentage of water insoluble nitrogen on its label. If it is 30 percent or more, then it can be considered as a slow-release fertilizer and can be safely used for the roses.

Liquid fertilizers are not considered good for roses that have been planted in the ground. This is because they need to be applied at least once or twice in a week, which may not be convenient. Mostly, liquid fertilizers are used for roses as supplements only. But liquid fertilizers can be a great choice if you have planted your roses in pots as they are water soluble, act quickly and release nutrients almost immediately. So, if you water rose plants frequently, the nutrients will be released quickly and the plants will gain nutrients almost immediately.