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pests in rose plants


Question
hi,
I LOVE growing rose plants. unfortunately, it will end up with  tiny spiders like pest, which will eventually kill my rose plants.
i tried all kinds of pesticide available in Singapore..
but the other factor is the strong wind, which hinders the growth.

i cannot change my place. is there any way to solve this problem
is there any other available plants in the market that can be grown with the rose plants to prevent the pest.
currently I have the Indian rose (pannier rose in Tamil), which has a sweet perfume.

Answer
Before you go to battle, it pays to know your enemy. Spider mites HATE water. They like a nice, dry warm are. So to discourage them you make the rose leaves unattractive to them. It is not unusual for insects to become immune to a certain pesticide. Try taking the hose and spraying the undersides of a rose bush daily and see if this discourages them and it won't hurt the rose. Spider mites don't move around so this will knock them off the leaves. Next use a soap spray made up of about 1/2 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of liquid soap. Only use once as the soap can burn if used too often. You can also buy an insecticidal soap at most garden shops. The secret to getting rid of these mites, is to keep at it. Once they are knocked off, they won't be able to get back up again. If you don't keep watering the leaves, then if there are only two mites left, the whole cycle will start all over again. A week should be long enough to see if the water has any effect at all. Spider mites ( or mites of any kind) are the most difficult to get rid of on any plants.
I garden in an area that gets gale force winds and all this will do to your roses is make them smaller. The rose bush does this to save itself because growing taller means it's canes could be snapped off in the wind. So I would expect your rose bushes to be smaller than normal. If they want to grow taller, I will discourage them by cutting the bush back hard in the cool season.

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