Organic Pest & Disease Control for Roses

Prevention

• Prevention can be key to keeping your rose garden pest-free. Maintaining the garden regularly can stave off disease and pests. If you mulch, you should change that mulch yearly. Leaving the mulch can cause too much moisture, which can encourage disease, and can allow what pests are already there to thrive. You should also keep your rose plants trimmed and pruned. This ensures that your garden does not become a haven for pests. It is also a good way for you to notice diseased parts of the plant before they become a fatal problem for the whole garden. And always keep your garden tools clean and sanitized.
  
  

Organic Soil and Fertilization

• By using organic substances to maintain your garden, you will encourage a healthy garden from the start. Beneficial plants and organisms will be able to thrive in your garden, which will keep the damaging ones out. Going all-out organic will definitely benefit anyone's rose garden.
  
  

Companion Planting

• Companion planting is the practice of pairing certain plants together to benefit the entire garden. Certain plants ward off certain pests, and when planted together, these plants can really be great for your garden. Some examples are Nasturtiums which deter aphids and Alliums to deter nematodes.
  
  

Neem Oil

• Neem oil is a great natural pest killer. The oil kills the pests by actually smothering them. It coats them, and then they cannot breathe or eat, and they expire. If you're using neem oil, be sure to coat as much of the plant as you can so that you get all of the organisms.
  
  

Bordeaux Mix

• Bordeaux mix is a combination of copper sulfate and hydrated lime which is commonly used in vineyards as a fungicide, but also works wonders with roses. This fungicide has been used for a very long time, and is highly effective.
  
  

Potassium Bicarbonate

• Potassium bicarbonate is another popular fungicide for roses. It works very well during the mildew season, and especially in very humid areas. Many people make a homemade version that is a sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), but potassium bicarbonate has proven more effective and safer.