Question
QUESTION: Hi, I grow a few different varieties of HTRs and I have a white HTR bush that,when I first planted it, grew fairly normal sized roses. Unfortunately, I applied Miracle Grow Bloom Booster for more blooms, well it worked. I got a yield of about 30 roses at once (on a 24" bush!) but they were TINY. I never used that fertilizer again, I use Hi-Yield 6-7-7 for the phosphorus and Miracle Grow rose food for the nitrogen and fast growth. I realized I was growing them so fast the blooms could not compete with the shooting up greenery and now I fertilize every 4-5 weeks, just with a balance of an 18-24-16 water mix and every 3 months with a 6-7-7 that I churn into the ground. I have to water once daily in the summer here and I use a garden hose at the base, I only mist them before sunrise every 2-3 days.(I live in south central Mississippi btw) I am getting typical results with my double delights, blue girl and perfume delight but the white bush (IDK the variety, it is not a JFK) still continues to grow puny blooms that, when they open, look like a tiny head of cabbage. There are no pests on them, they are 2.5 feet away from the same size & successful Blue Girl plant. I'm stumped as to how to get normal blooms and keep the blooms from browning at the edges when they open. They are in a mostly sunny location but do get very early a.m. shade and late afternoon shade. Can you suggest anything? I would like to see all my roses have larger, more florist-like blooms and thicker stems. Thanks!

ANSWER: Roses are just the same as humans because they too have DNA in them to make them into a certain type of rose. Again , just like humans, you can't make a human, when they are mature ,grow into a taller person. It is the same with roses. They are programmed to grow into a certain type and shape of bush and the flowers are also programmed into a certain size and shape. You are correct in that a nitrogen type of fertilizer will stimulate more growth but that takes away from making a flower because flowering takes the most energy in a rose bush. Giving a rose too much fertilizer can, in many instances, simply stunt the rose as it interferes with the bacteria in the soil ,which break down the fertilizer so the roots can take it up. The browning at the edges is fertilizer burn as this happens when you give a rose too much. If you have average soil, then 18-24-16 is far too rich a mix for roses. Because your Blue Girl is doing okay, that suggests that the white rose is far more sensitive to chemicals. It is not unusual for white roses to be more sensitive to the amount of fertilizer used. Because your roses are  bred to be a certain type, you will not get thicker canes or larger flowers. To get larger flowers on a rose bush, you have to nip off the side buds. This means the rose doesn't have as many flowers to support. Some roses will grow thin canes and some will grow thick ones but fertilizer will not make much difference and neither will it increase the number of basal canes on the rose bush. Fertilizer companies literally lie on their packages about what the product will do. I think you already know what caused the problem and should pull back in fertilizing to give the rose a rest and hopefully get the soil back to more normal. Watering is a good way to encourage better blooms. A rose needs about 5 gallons of water every 5 days and should ideally be given all at once. That is about a bucket full. Use a mulch around the base of the rose to make the soil around the roots cool and damp, as this is the ideal conditions for the bacteria as well and encourages growth as well. I would also check to make sure that you don't have rose thrips in the flowers as thrips love white loves best. Screw the flower off at the base and then shake it into the palm of your hand. Thrips are very, very tiny little pale brown insects but you will be able to see them move as they run quickly. The reason I suggest this is because thrips suck on the flowers and can also cause brown edges. However if the edges are brown all the way around the rose it will be too much fertilizer.

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QUESTION: I DO have thrips! And I agree that I am probably over-fertilizing it as well, Thanks for the advice on trimming off the 'sucker' roses and watering properly, it sounds like it would make more sense and I expected less roses would = bigger blooms. So what should I do about the thrips? (And the fertilizer that I have been using was Miracle-Gro's Rose food, so I am going to discontinue that and stick solely with the 6-7-7) Thanks so much! I'm sure the spring will bring a barrage of questions from me but before that I will get some more books! :)

Answer
Miracle Gro used to be a very good fertilizer for roses. However the company was bought out and the new one has increased the nitrogen. This means you get more fast growth which isn't really good for most plants. Your 6-7-7 is a good one and will keep your roses healthy. Because thrips are so tiny, they can hide in the petals at the base of the flowers. That makes it almost impossible for any sprays to get to them. The best type to use is a systemic type which goes into the sap of the rose and when the thrips bite they get a mouthful of poison which kills them. But even then you may not get all of them. Ortho Rose & Flower Insect Killer is the one that kills but be warned, it is a nasty one as it contains Orthene and is labelled as a miticide and all miticides are nasty sprays in that they are poison. When you kill the thrips you also kill the good insects.
If you see any evidence of thrips don't forget to snap the bloom off and throw it in the garbage. Then you know you have got them all on that flower. Also thrips will get immune to the same spray used on a regular basis. So you have to alternate them by using a different one the next year. You could try something with pyrethrin in it or a insecticidal soap. Thrips are the worst type of insect to get rid of because they get immune but it appears that they don't get immune as quickly to something more simple like the soap or insecticidal sprays which you have to apply daily and when the thrip is coated with it they die and so will no reproduce. Now for the good news. Thrips don't last very long only a few weeks and if they are very bad then consider not getting any more white or pastel coloured roses as those are the colours which attracted them to your garden.