How to find the right timing for fertilizing Chinese roses?
Today, I will introduce the related content about grasping the timing in green plants, and the editor will explain in detail for you next.
Through the sharing of previous articles, everyone has already understood the uses of various fertilizers and the methods of using common organic and inorganic fertilizers. So today, let's talk about how to fertilize Chinese roses properly during the breeding process.
The most crucial thing about fertilizing Chinese roses is to grasp the right timing!
What is grasping the right timing?
Timing is very important for many things, for example, if we cannot grasp the right timing for sowing, it may cause sowing failure or poor seedling growth.
Fertilizing is the same. If the timing for top-dressing is not accurate, it may not only fail to achieve the expected effect but also cause fertilizer damage.
For example: fertilizing Chinese roses in summer can easily cause them to suffer fertilizer damage and die from black stems.
Therefore, when breeding Chinese roses, top-dressing must be done at the right time. If the timing is accurate, it will be twice the effort for half the result!
How to find the right timing for fertilizing Chinese roses?
To grasp the right timing for top-dressing Chinese roses, we need to judge based on their growth habits.
Every spring, for example, in Zhejiang, Chinese roses generally start to sprout in early March, form buds at the end of March, and bloom in mid-to-late April.
How to find the right timing for fertilizing Chinese roses?
That is, Chinese roses start to recover growth in March and begin to form flower buds in April. The rapid growth and bud formation from March to April require a lot of nutrients.
I should top-dress with a fast-acting fertilizer every 10 days during this growth period.
However, just having fast-acting fertilizers is far from enough to meet the growth needs of Chinese roses. We also need to provide them with long-acting fertilizers, which can be organic or controlled-release fertilizers.
Of course, we usually add base fertilizer when repotting in winter, so there is no need to top-dress with long-acting fertilizers throughout March and April. Just frequently apply fast-acting fertilizers.
But by May, the first batch of Chinese rose flowers has basically finished blooming, and at this time, long-acting fertilizers need to be used to replenish nutrients for the roses to recover growth quickly and store nutrients for the summer.
The first official top-dressing for Chinese roses:
The first official top-dressing with long-acting fertilizers for Chinese roses should be done after the first batch of flowers every year.
Because flowering consumes a lot of nutrients, the plant is in a stage of relatively deficient nutrients. At this time, combine pruning with a formal top-dressing.
This top-dressing is recommended to use organic fertilizers and not slow-release fertilizers because it's getting close to summer, and the release of slow-release fertilizers is easily affected by temperature, which may cause fertilizer damage.
So, how exactly should we apply organic fertilizers to Chinese roses?
Potted Chinese roses and ground-planted Chinese roses have different methods of top-dressing. Let's explain separately.
Formal top-dressing method for potted Chinese roses:
First, dig out the topsoil 1-2 cm thick on the surface of the pot, then sprinkle a layer of decomposed organic fertilizer, which can be fermented chicken manure, sheep manure, or long-acting controlled-release fertilizers.
Then cover the soil back. Note: If the original pot soil is compacted, new soil should be used to cover the organic fertilizer.
Formal top-dressing method for ground-planted Chinese roses:
Before formal fertilization of ground-planted Chinese roses, we must first remove weeds. Weeds must be pulled out by the root, as the saying goes: "If you don't pull out the root, the wind will blow again!"
After clearing the weeds, dig loose the soil 20-30 cm away from the Chinese rose roots, to a depth of about 2 cm.
Then sprinkle the decomposed organic fertilizer evenly on the soil surface and cover it with about 2 cm of soil.
Finally, mix the soil and organic fertilizer together with a rake. This is mainly to increase the soil's breathability and make the soil softer.
Ground-planted Chinese roses grow very vigorously with well-developed roots, so more fertilizers can be applied when fertilizing.
If the soil is compacted, a layer of compost or decomposed organic fertilizer can also be spread on the soil surface, or unroasted soybean cake meal can be used to improve the soil.
The pulled-out weeds can also be dried and stacked next to the Chinese rose roots to decompose naturally. After decomposition, they become good compost, making the soil loose, breathable, and rich in organic matter.
This is the first formal top-dressing for Chinese roses, chosen at this point mainly to replenish the nutrients consumed by the first batch of flowers and to accumulate nutrients for the next batch of flowers and for the summer.
Besides this top-dressing, we also need to do this kind of formal top-dressing twice more in a year.
Do you know when to do the other two top-dressings? Feel free to leave a comment below for Green Plant Enthusiast Net, sharing your thoughts on the timing for the next two top-dressings.
The above sharing of what is grasping the right timing, how to find the right timing for fertilizing Chinese roses, and the first formal top-dressing for Chinese roses are for the reference of green plant enthusiasts. I hope it can solve your problems in green plant and flower management.