2. Chemical fertilizers:
Miracid: 1 tablespoon per gallon per big bush. One-half that rate for mini’s. Drench soil around the drip line.
Osmocote: 1 cup per big bush. ˝ cup per mini. Spread all around drip line.
Nitro-Phos: Nitro-Phos sells a water soluble fertilizer endorsed by the Houston Rose Society. Mix it in water and apply at the drip line.
3. Organic fertilizers:
Mills Magic Rose Mix: Excellent organic formula which is especially good at encouraging new basal breaks. It is a low odor fertilizer.
Rose Glo: Excellent all-around formula with trace elements. It contains blood meal, fish meal, and feather meal.
Hasta Gro: An excellent, almost, organic fertilizer, high in humates and low in salts.
Earth Essentials: This is a good all-around organic fertilizer in pellet form. You can get it from Southwest Fertilizer.
Epsom Salts: Not just for tired feet! Encourages basal breaks and leaf growth.
Alfalfa Meal Pellets: Alfalfa contains triacontanol, a root growth simulator.
Fish Emulsion: Really feeds the micro-organisms in the soil. It is on almost every list of the most effective organic fertilizers. Has a distinct odor, which usually goes away in 24 hours.
Aerated Compost Tea: You can buy this commercially under names such as “Soil Soup” from several local nurseries. It is best used within hours after purchasing. The aeration is what is keeping the beneficial bacteria and fungi alive. If you buy it on Friday and use it on Sunday, lots of the benefits will be lost. If you simply can’t put it out the day you buy it, at least add an aquarium air stone to the mix and use an aquarium pump to keep the aeration going. To keep the air stone from becoming contaminated, turn on the pump before you drop the airstone in the mix. When you are ready to remove the air stone, take it out, drop it in a container of fresh water, and let it run for a few minutes. Then take it out of the fresh water, and let it run for a few more minutes before turning the pump off. Apply the aerated compost tea as a foliar spray, or directly to the base of the rose bush.
Compost and Mulch: This is the best organic way to feed your soil. For the first year, add one inch of compost (Nature’s Way is the best) and two inches of mulch. Every year thereafter, just add enough mulch to bring the level back to a depth of three inches.