How to keep that powdery white film off of Rose plants?

Every single time I buy a mini or regular rose plant they start to get this very fine powdery white film on the leaves. Any way to avoid that happening? And how do you prevent it from happening in first place?

How to keep that powdery white film off of Rose plants?
You've described the symptoms of "Powdery Mildew", which is caused due to; insufficient air flow, keeping leaves wet for extended periods of time and high humidity. Although Powdery Mildew won't kill your roses, it will weaken them and prevent photosynthesis.





You can avoid it from happening by;





1) Placing your plant in an area where it gets adequate ventilation (avoid over-crowding from other plants).





2) Water mid-morning to allow the leaves to dry during the day.





3) Remove all the infested leaves in the area which can harbor the disease.





4) Place your plants in a sunny location and avoid excessive applications of nitrogen.





There are several good products that you can apply to control this disease; Sulfur or copper- based materials, baking soda, neem-oil, Ultra-fine spray oils, fungicides such as "Triforine" and "Immunox", there's also a beneficial bacteria that prevents/protects the plant and keeps Powdery Mildew from becoming established...it's called "Bacillus Subtilis".





IF your plants are already infested, I'd recommend using one of the oils and then make an application of a preventative..such as "Immunox" to help protect it from re-occuring.





Hope this solves your problem. GOOD LUCK!





-Certified Professional Crop Consultant with over 30 years of experience and a Degree in Plant Science
Reply:sounds like leaf smut or a mold try a spectracide rose spray from home depot or the fungacide ask for the garden manager and describe lowes has a pest and problem book at their stores aso ask there about the problems and go to home depot and pay less for the supplies, an olde gardener
Reply:try not to keep you rose too wet, too wet causes powdery mildew(the white stuff), to get rid of it you can buy a fungicide that contains sulphur, follow the directions on the bottle, this can be bought at garden centres(or Wal-mart)
Reply:You can buy a premixed solution at you local nursery and it goes on the end of the water hose. Also you can make a homemade mixture of water and dawn dish washing liquid and spray on the new leaves and it will prevent this from happening.