Question
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Followup To
Question -
I am an Indian living in West Bengal, Kolkata.  I have some roses in pots.  The media is Cinder + Coarse Sand. This is basically soil less culture.  

Shoud I spray Gibberellic Acid to my plants ? If yes, how much ppm is require ? When it will be better for spraying ? Why blind shoots are coming ?  

Answer -
You didn't say what the problem was with your plants so if they are doing fairly well, be careful of Gibberellic as they may not need it. This acid is used mainly by growers to encourage flowering at specific times such as Christmas or Easter when the plants would not naturally be blooming. Roses are sensitive to daylight hours and need about 6 hours of direct sun and the rest of the time filtered sunlight. Using a water soluable fertilizer containing trace minerals, should be all that you need to keep them healthy.
Gibberellic acid (actually a group of related substances called gibberellins) was discovered as a metabolic byproduct of the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, which causes the stems of growing rice to elongate so rapidly the plant collapsed. Synthetic forms of gibberellic acid are available commercially.

Gibberellic acid (GA) is a very potent hormone whose natural occurrence in plants controls their development. Since GA regulates growth, applications of very low concentrations can have a profound effect. Timing is critical: too much GA may have an opposite effect from that desired; too little may require the plant to be repeatedly treated to sustain desired levels of GA.
Although GA is not listed as a "poison", the following precautions should be observed: Flush with water any GA that may get into the eye. Avoid skin contact if possible. If skin contact is suspected, wash with soap and water. Do not re-enter an area after spraying until the GA spray is fully dry. Avoid ingestion of GA.

The powder may be dissolved as specified below to give the desired concentration.
Concentration
parts/million    GA
mg    Water
ml (cup)    Purpose
50    125    2400 (10 1/2)    Early flowering
200    125    600 (2 1/2)    Early flowering
800    125    160 (2/3)    Blossom set
2000    125    60 (1/4)    Seed germination
1% paste    125    5 ml (1 tsp.) lanolin    Growth promoter
Here is an interesting article about blind shoots that should give you lots of information about them.

http://www.laroses.homestead.com/BlindShoots.html

If you want to spray roses for the black spot fungus disease, then it should be done when the plant starts to leaf out. Once the spore is settled on the leaf it is then too late. Once a month spraying should be all that is required. Hope this helps. Lynnette



Please let me know a good water soluable fertiliser.  Actually shoots are not coming healthy and less in number.

Answer
Plants that are grown hydroponically need a fertilizer made for the alone. Using any garden fertilizer could probably burn and it won't contain the necessary nutrients.Nitrogen, potash and phorphorous are easy for the plant to get in water but it is the trace elements plus the minerals that are badly lackling. If your plants are not doing well, then it is probably these that is lacks. Here is a break down of a well balanced hydroponical fertilizer. As I am in Canada and probably don't have the same fertilizers as you do, just make sure the fertilizer you pick has the following ingrediants. Plus or minus will be okay in regards to percentage but try to get most of the rest.
Also I would suggest that at first you spray your plants wih it rather than placing it in the water. This will give them a quicker time to assimilate the fertilizer. Garden roses actually do better when they are sprayed instead of sprinkling the fertilizer around the base or even digging it into the top of the soil. Lynnette
PS. I just thought of something else. Another reason that your roses are not doing well could be bacteria in the soil. Soiless mediums are prone to them. A mild solution of bleach and water used as a drench might help. 1 teaspoon (15ml) of 5% bleach to a quart ( 1 litre) of water. After pouring it on the plants don't use any fertilizer for about a couple of days and by then the chlorine in the bleach should have been diffused.
   
Total Nitrogen 7%
  
Chlorine (Cl) 0.1%
  
Ammoniacal (NH4) 2.6%
     
Cobalt (Co) 0.0015%
  
Nitrate (NO3) 4.4%
  
Copper (Cu) 0.05%
  
Phosphorus (P2O5 9%
  
Iron (Fe) 0.1%
  
Potassium (K2O) 5%
  
Manganese (Mn) 0.05%
  
Calcium (Ca) 2%
  
Molybdenum (Mo)0.0009%
  
Magnesium (Mg) 0.5000%
  
Nickel (Ni) 0.05001%
  
Sulfur (S) 0.0500%

Sodium (Na) 0.1%

Boron (B) 0.02%
  
A fertilizer like this would be sold as 7-9-5