QuestionMy roses, heritage, merry grow hybids, all have great leaves but no blooms, very disappointing for the fall burst I usually see, I keep them sprayed with a mix of soap,baking soda and apple cider vinegar but have been adding epson salts lately to the base for fertilizer. Can that be the problem? Even my favorite Garden Party has not bloomed much since spring and the ones that are old garden roses like pink caldwell and new dawn..no roses
Answer
Everyone has been having weird weather this year especially the spring weather. If you had periods of warmth and then cold, this will kill the flower buds. The rose then has to wait until it can make more.
Another reason why roses don't flower is because the rage the rose plant to put out more basal canes but again if the rose is bred to only put out a few or it hasn't the strength to maintain any more, then the salts won't do anything for the rose. Let's see if we can sort this out for you.
I would take a pass on the vinegar and just use the baking soda. You can also fertilize by foliar feeding as this gets quickly to the rose where it takes time for the fertilizer to work it's way down to the roots and then up to the leaves.I wouldn't fertilize the soil anymore just use the foliar type. The fact that you once blooming roses didn't give you any flowers proves that their buds were killed. Depending where you garden, either by winter or by animals that like rose buds but even those should have left you a few to enjoy. Hope this helps.