Episode: #14 14/07/07
Presenter: Judy Horton

Have you ever seen white spots on the stems of your roses? It is called rose scale. Hiding beneath the scale is a very clever sap-sucking pest that knows if it stays stuck firmly on the stems it won’t end up on the ground when the leaves drop in autumn. It can be real problem, because a bad infestation can weaken, and sometimes even kill, a rose.

In winter, when roses are leafless, you have your best chance to get on top of this pest. One way to help get rid of it is to spray your rose bushes with Yates Lime Sulphur immediately after you have pruned, while the plants are still bare of leaves. This also helps to control some fungal diseases.

Lime Sulphur smells like rotten egg gas, so you know it must be doing lots of good. You can spray at double strength in winter, but make sure you get onto it immediately after pruning, well before the new shoots emerge. If the rose already has leaves, then use a white oil spray instead for treating the scale problem.

One final tip: Branches that are badly infested with scale should be removed altogether, then wrapped up in plastic and put firmly in the bin – never into your compost!

Featured Products

Yates Lime Sulphur Spray Fungicide
Controls a range of fungal diseases and pests on fruit trees and roses.
Features

• Ideal as a winter clean up spray - spray fruit trees and roses during winter to control hard to kill pests and diseases such as mites and leaf curl.
• Low toxic.
• Easy-to-use measure bottle, won't block nozzles in sprayers.