My Roses Are Wilting Before They Open

Disease

• Botrytis blight is a disease that affects many flowering plants including roses, peonies, petunias and carnations. It is the most common and destructive disease of greenhouse-grown flowers. There are over 50 species of Botrytis bacteria, the result of which makes prevention that much more difficult.

Symptoms

• Flowers infected with Botrytis blight have small, shriveled flowers that rarely open. Those that do open will have a gray colored mold on the petals. The first signs of Botrytis blight are brown-looking water spots on the otherwise healthy buds. Over the course of a few days, the brown spots will turn gray and the bud dies.

Treatment

• There is no known treatment for Botrytis blight. You cannot save infected flowers and you cannot guarantee the survival of the plant. The measures that you can take to help improve the plant's chances are to cut away all infected branches, sterilizing the cutters between flowers. Additionally, you can apply a fungicide to the plant to discourage further spread.

Prevention

• Botrytis blight only occurs in cloudy, damp weather. The best means of preventing the condition is to keep the foliage and flowers of the plants as dry as possible. If your rose rush is too thick, prune out some of the middle branches for greater air flow through the plant. This will encourage more thorough drying after rainstorms.