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Do You Have to Use Bone Meal When Planting Bare Root Roses?

It seems as if there are as many ways to plant a bare root rose as there are rose experts. Rosarians have a number of concoctions they suggest putting in the planting hole, and many of these contain bone meal to provide phosphorous for the plant’s growing roots. Considering that roses have done just fine for millions of years without human intervention, it’s safe to say a bare-root rose generally doesn’t require bone meal at planting. There is an exception, however, and if your soil requires phosphorous, an alternative to bone meal exists.

  1. Description

    • Bone meal, made from steamed, ground animal bones and other slaughterhouse waste, is used as a slow-release form of phosphorous in gardening applications. Many horticulturists believe that phosphorous aids in early root growth and speedier plant maturity. Because the phosphorous in bone meal is released so slowly, rosarians suggest placing the bone meal in the planting hole to provide the roots quicker access to the phosphorous.

    Role of Bone Meal in Soil

    • Phosphorous is considered one of the macroelements that plants most quickly depleted from the soil. Linda-Chalker Scott, assistant professor of horticulture at Washington State University, however, suggests that only agricultural soil is typically deficient in phosphorous. The average home garden soil, she contends, is rarely depleted, so adding bone meal or other forms of phosphorous to the soil may actually harm the rose bush and beneficial organisms in the soil.

    Phosphate Toxicity

    • If the soil in which you will plant the bare root rose isn’t deficient in phosphate and you add bone meal or another amendment with phosphorous, you run the risk of limiting the amount of iron, zinc and manganese the rose can absorb from the soil. Iron and manganese deficiencies cause chlorosis – a yellowing of the foliage. Too much phosphorous in the soil may also disturb the relationship between mycorrhizal fungus and the rose’s roots – a relationship that is advantageous to both. One of the biggest advantages of this relationship for the rose is the higher incidence of transplant success when the fungus is present in the soil. Chalker-Scott says that excessive phosphorous destroys the fungi and the rose then has to work harder to produce more roots.

    Bone Meal Alternative

    • A soil analysis will tell you definitively whether the soil lacks phosphorous and requires supplementation before planting the bare root rose. Superphosphate is a suitable replacement for bone meal. It was originally created by treating animal bones with sulfuric acid, a process chemist John Bennett Lawes discovered in 1842. Today, ground phosphate rock, instead of bones, is used in the manufacture of superphosphate. Unlike bone meal, it is water soluble, and more readily available to the rose’s roots at planting.

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Growing Roses
  1. What Does It Mean When a Rose Bush Is Sent Bare Root?
  2. When to Plant Roses
  3. How Much Epson Salt Do You Use When Planting Roses?
  4. When Can You Transplant an Oleander Bush?
  5. How to Grow Roses Close Together
  6. Do You Have to Remove Contaminated Soil Before Planting a New Yard?
  7. Do You Use a Lawn Roller When the Soil Is Wet or Dry?
  8. How to Add Bone Meal After Planting
  9. When to Compost Roses
  10. What Kind of Soil Do You Use When Growing a Cat Garden?
  11. Do You Put Hay Around a Knockout Rose?
  12. What Kind of Roots Do Roses Have?

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