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sticky rose problem


Question
i have two bueutiful roses well up until this year i have struggled to remove afids from both plants they havd been sprayed by both fungaside and insectaside only to remain the same but the leaves have become rather sticky to the touch, i was sujested to use a diluted dishwash liquid spray and yes that didnt work either. I have also tryed planting other plants at the bottom of the roses and they look grate next to my afwol roses.  Please these are my favourate roses and dont wont to see them go.  Please please i realy need something that will work to get them back to normal as they are only 2 years old and they were a replacement for the ones my gran gave my mother when she had me  which mum gave me when i had my boys even as a replacement i dont want to see them go

Answer
The aphid mother lays her eggs on the top of the canes where the new growth is going to come out. When the eggs hatch, the aphids then eat the new growth. However like most of us, they have to go to the bathroom and this  the sticky stuff you are seeing on the roses. Ants love this sticky stuff and actually will milk the aphids. these new aphids mature, lay eggs and the cycle begins again. It's not that the insecticide doesn't work, it is that the insects reproduce so quickly. Don't use anymore sprays or even soap on your roses. Give them a rest from chemicals because they have re-acted to them. Because aphids are weak bugs, once they fall off the rose bush they really can't get up again and the birds eat them like candy.
There are two things you can do which will solve your problem. You can take your hand and hit the tips of the rose canes to knock them off or even use a soft brush. Or you can take the hose and wash the rose bushes down and that will also knock them off. Don't be concerned about washing rose bushes as many people wash their roses off to keep the black spot spores off the leaves and to allow the rose to take the water up quickly through the leaves. Wash then roses off daily and you will see a big difference in a weeks time. Aphids don't kill roses they only damage the new growth because they suck on it.

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