By Newdawn
Kerry ,
Ireland 
Hello,
I did something very stupid. I purchased two rose plants because of the beautiful colour of their flowers but they are covered in blackspot. I've been doing some research on roses, should I remove all their leaves. I sprayed them with roseclear this evening. I made up a litre of the stuff, I followed the instructions on the box. I have a lot left over, will it keep until the next spray. All advice welcome.
8 Jul, 2017
Answers
Ooooh, Loosestrife...that's a scary story! :) Good advice though. When I spray my Roses for Blackspot I always drench the soil under the plant as well as that's where the spores lurk. And make sure you get the stems and the undersides of the leaves as well if you can. Remove all the dead leaves from the ground as they fall, and burn or bin them. don't put them in any composting material. Roseclear is effective when used regularly. I try to spray mine as soon as any signs of bud break begin in the spring and after that every two weeks or at least once a month. But windy and wet weather often prevents me from spraying. I think starting as early as possible really helps. This year I have only managed to spray two or three times since April, but I have very little blackspot. Make sure they get a really good feed every year, and you'll soon have lovely healthy roses. :)
9 Jul, 2017
Thank you both for replying with all the good advice. I will continue to spray every two weeks and pick up the leaves as they drop, then bin them. Just to check, the mixture of roseclear will it be ok to leave it in the sprayer
9 Jul, 2017
never occurred to me that it might 'go off' but i don't really know. Hope someone else knows. I always use up the whole solution.
9 Jul, 2017
I've bought mine in a ready to use spray. Costs more but saves all the hassle and when you only have two or three roses it still lasts ages..
10 Jul, 2017
Dont bother removing the leaves, the black spot will do that for you. If you remove all the leaves yourself at once, the plant will go into shock and die...remember, though infected, the leaves are still functioning to provide the rose what it needs. Spray with your fungicide of choice according to the instructions and be patient, you will get new leaf growth eventually. In the meantime continue your research with an emphasis on how to prevent this from happening next growing season. Also, before you take it home inspect each plant very carefully. I purchased a tray of young plants once from a GC and once I got home I discovered that I had brought into my house not black spot but a black widow spider who had hitched a ride in the tray. Those roses must have been spectacular to have caused such an experienced gardener as yourself to have missed that problem.
9 Jul, 2017