Roses require a lot of essential nutrients for healthy growth and beautiful blooms. Using organic fertilizer is the most convenient and safest way to provide roses with nutrients. However, determine your roses’ condition to find a suitable product. Refer to top 6 of the best organic fertilizer for roses below:
Here are the best organic fertilizers for roses you can buy in 2024:
- Slow Release: Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Best For Beautiful Bloom: Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Best For Quick Result: AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Organic Liquid Fertilizer
- Best For Bigger & Abundant Blooms: Dr. Earth Total Advantage Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Best For Leafy Bushes: Espoma RT4
- Best For Strong Root: Burpee Organic Bloom Granular
| 6 Best Organic Fertilizers For Roses | ||
|---|---|---|
Slow Release | Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer | |
Best For Beautiful Bloom | Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer | |
Best For Quick Result | AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Organic Liquid Fertilizer | |
Best For Bigger & Abundant Blooms | Dr. Earth Total Advantage Rose & Flower Fertilizer | |
Best For Leafy Bushes | Espoma RT4 | |
Best For Strong Root | Burpee Organic Bloom Granular | |
Slow Release: Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Straightforward to sink into wet soil
- Easy to use
- Pet safe
- No mess
- Attractive to pets
- A little expensive
For established roses, you need to stop fertilizing them 6-8 weeks before the first frost comes. If they have new blooms in this weather condition, they can be damaged by frost.
This doesn’t mean that you don’t completely worry about your rose development. In late summer to early autumn, you can apply a slow-release fertilizer to gradually provide rose roots with nutrients and reach big blooms next year.
Among all types, Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Spikes are the slowest to release fertilizer that provides nutrients over time without stimulating your rose blooms immediately.
| Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 10 spikes |
Fertilizer Analysis | 3-5-3 |
Highlight Features | No synthetic chemicals No mess Waterproof resealable package |
Jobe’s Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer can slowly release nutrients and provide your roses for up to 1 - 2 months.
Best For Beautiful Bloom: Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Easy to use and restore
- Well-packaged and sealed tight
- Smelly
To get beautiful rose blooms, you need to choose a fertilizer with the highest P number in NPK ratio like Down to Earth that is 4-8-4.
Why?
P plays a vital role in stimulating flower production to give you extremely beautiful blooms.
| Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 5lb |
Fertilizer Analysis | 4-8-4 |
Highlight Features | Listed by OMRI Used on vegetable gardens, flower beds, containers and houseplants |
Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer can help roses and other flower types become more beautiful.
Best For Quick Result: AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Organic Liquid Fertilizer
- Make roses more beautiful and vibrant
- Easy to use
- Unpleasant smell
If you want to enjoy beautiful roses as fast as possible, you might need support from AgroThrive. When applying this fertilizer, the manufacturer makes sure that you can see your lovely roses within 7 days.
How can?
Among all fertilizer types, liquid is the quick-to-absorb product. Your roses will fastly absorb nutrients to bloom in a few days.
| AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Organic Liquid Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 1 gal |
Fertilizer Analysis | 3-3-5 |
Highlight Features | Result within one week OMRI, CDFA and WSDA Activates indigenous microflora in soil 70% fast-release, 30% slow-release |
Roses can fastly absorb nutrients from AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Organic Liquid Fertilizer, so you will see results quicker.
Best For Bigger & Abundant Blooms: Dr. Earth Total Advantage Rose & Flower Fertilizer
- Easy to apply
- Green tea-like smell
- More resistant to disease
- No toxic to people and pets
- A little dusty blend
- Very attractive to dogs
- Expensive
How to maximize the size and quantity of your roses?
With this purpose, you need a balanced formula of fertilizer with a lot of nutrients. This product has 4-6-2 NPK ratio and P is the highest number. P is essential for flower formation and strong root development, so it can help your roses develop bigger and more abundant.
Apart from P, this fertilizer is formulated and enriched with humic acids, carbohydrates, protein, multi-minerals, and trace elements for a complete development.
| Dr. Earth Total Advantage Rose & Flower Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 4lb |
Fertilizer Analysis | 4-6-2 |
Highlight Features | Non-GMO Project Verified fertilizer People & Pet Safe |
Dr. Earth Total Advantage Rose & Flower Fertilizer maximizes your rose size and quantity.
Best For Leafy Bushes: Espoma RT4
- Reasonable price
- Fast to release
- Unpleasant smell
When growing roses, all of us care about flowers more than leaves. So, why do I recommend a fertilizer for leafy bushes?
At the first stage when the new leaves emerge, feed your rose a high-nitrogen fertilizer like Espoma plant food (4-3-2). This first application will jump start the leaf growth and prepare for better flower development.
| Espoma RT4 Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 4 pounds |
Fertilizer Analysis | 4-3-2 |
Highlight Features | All 15 essential nutrients Natural organics Environmentally safe No sludges, hazardous and toxic ingredients |
Espoma RT4 fertilizer can improve the process of leaf growth of roses and other flower types.
Best For Strong Root: Burpee Organic Bloom Granular
- Flowers bloom like crazy
- Effective
- Not change in winter
If your roses have a weak root system, seek a suitable fertilizer to improve its condition. Burpee Organic Bloom Granular is a suitable choice because its NPK ratio is 4-6-4. P is the highest number, so it can improve flower production and root growth.
The anchor roots will be thick and strong enough to keep the rosebush upright. It is healthy enough to store nutrients for winter. Feeder roots absorb water and nutrients in the soil conveniently.
| Burpee Organic Bloom Granular Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 4 lb |
Fertilizer Analysis | 4-6-4 |
Highlight Features | Natural plant food OMRI-listed Feed your roses up to 3 months Beneficial microbes |
Burpee Organic Bloom Granular keeps your rose root strong & healthy and improves the size and quality of the rose.
How To Choose The Best Organic Fertilizer For Roses?
What Are The Best Types Of Rose Fertilizer?
Granular
Granular fertilizer looks like sand grains. When applying, they will scatter over the ground and under roses.
I recommend this solution for people who don’t require their roses to bloom in a short time because granular is slower to absorb than liquid. It’s long-lasting, so you can reapply every 4-6 weeks.
Liquid
It’s easy to use liquid fertilizer since you just need to dissolve it in water, then pour around the rose base.
In case you need to green up your roses quickly, liquid should be your choice. Plants absorb liquid quicker than granular, but you have to reapply more regularly (1-2 weeks).
You shouldn’t use liquid fertilizer if you live in an area with quite wet weather. The ground will become more overly soggy while roses require a well-drained environment to flourish.
Spray
Most spray fertilizers usually come with a spray bottle or a hose-end sprayer. If using this fertilizer, keep in mind the following things:
- Apply through the leaves, not roots.
- Reapply every 2 weeks.
If water is kept on the surface of the leaves overnight, it’s vulnerable to fungal disease. Thus, it’s best to spray in the early morning to allow them to dry completely before night time.
Spike
If you are looking for a long-time solution, spike is it. The spike fertilizer releases nutrients into the soil slowly. You can reapply every 2 months, even longer.
You evenly put it around the rose base, in (even compacted) soil with a hammer or your fingers. However, it’s easy to be broken when hammering into too hard ground. This case requires you to take more effort on your part to dig holes and put spikes inside.
What’s NPK Ratio?
Any fertilizer has NPK ratio that is Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Potassium
If you want to buy a fertilizer for roses, consider the NPK ratio with the highest level of P. Phosphorus plays an important role in the rose growth because it stimulates flower production and root growth.
While N promotes lush foliage development, producing fewer blooms, K can resist stress caused by harsh conditions (drought and excessive temperatures) better.
Why Should You Choose Organic Fertilizer?
Although organic fertilizer has a lower NPK ratio than inorganic fertilizers, it has a huge amount of microbes. It is ideal for absorbing and keeping your roses from toxic runoff.
But, it’s not good for families having pets because the natural ingredients such as bone and blood meal will attract animals.
Which Brands Make The Best Organic Fertilizer For Roses?
Jobe’s
Jobe’s brand is famous for original fertilizer and plant spikes, but they have dealt in more things than these items. They include high-quality products in hardware, garden, and home improvement industries.
FAQs
How do I feed roses organically?
There are some organic ways below:
Mulching
If you have one of the following materials: compost, grass clippings, worm castings, well rotted horse manure, and leaf mold, you can try to mulch them. Applying this method twice per year can provide extra nutrients to your roses, making them healthier and more disease-resistant. Besides, this way can improve the structure of the soil and feed the soil’s ecology organically.
Feed your roses with mulches organically:
Spreading over the surface of the ground, around your rose bed or rose base, a 2-inch layer of mulch can help worms and rain integrate the mulch into the ground. Do not dig because this action can bring the risk of disturbing the soil ecosystem and cutting through your rose roots.
Leave 5-6 inches of the bare ground between mulch and rose canes because letting the wood of roses exposed to moist organic materials too long can cause root rot.
If you do not have time to make your own mulch, try some organic packaged mulch which can also do wonders to your beloved roses.
Using Alfalfa
Alfalfa contains a significant amount of nitrogen, zinc, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium. And all of them are ideal for the growth of rose bushes and flower production. Also, it has a growth stimulant - triacontanol which can raise basal breaks on rose brushes.
Feed your roses with alfalfa organically:
With alfalfa, you need to apply once a month. It is best to apply alfalfa pellets to the ground when the rose leaves unfold before applying mulch surrounding the base of rose bushes. After that, you can water your roses the same as always. When reapplying next month, remember to use a rake to encourage nutrients to reach the rose roots.
Using epsom salt
Epsom salt is ideal for roses that lack magnesium because it contains a high level of this nutrient.
How to feed your roses with Epsom salt organically?
- Mix half cup of Epsom salt with 2 gallons of water.
- Water it around your rose base
- Apply in spring or when the weather is warm and reapply every year.
Using Blood and Bone meal
This is a powdered by-product of slaughterhouses that has a great level of nitrogen. Aside from greening up rose foliage, its iron is essential for photosynthesis and chlorophyll production.
Feed your roses with Blood and Bone organically:
Before anything else, you need to know that dogs, cats and other animals love the smell of bone meal. So, you must be careful when applying this thing.
It’s best to rake mulch surrounding the rose bush before applying the bone meal to the ground. After that, reapply the soil and mulch over the top. Watering slowly can decrease smell and encourage the soil to reach the rose roots.
You should apply from March once a month, not after August 15th, because roses require direct resources to prepare for winter instead of stimulating fresh growth.
Using fish emulsion
This contains a 5% amount of nitrogen that promotes new and healthy growth. While it is essential for chlorophyll production and photosynthesis process, potassium and phosphate in fish emulsion is ideal for flower production and disease resistance. Compared to others, it can reach roots quicker.
Feed your roses with fish emulsion organically:
Applying once per month in spring (April/May) can improve health and disease resistance. But, stop before August 15th to prevent the stimulation of new growth before winter.
The fish emulsion has a strong and unpleasant smell, so you need to minimize this smell by diluting one tsp of fish emulsion to one gallon of water. You need to rake mulch surrounding your rose to apply emulsion, then you can rake the mulch back.
Using banana peels
Sugar in the peels can fuel microbes, simulate worm activity, and create channels for the rose roots to improve drainage. Simply put banana peels in a place where you grow your roses. This way can add potassium in the soil for larger and more spectacular blooms.
Are tea bags good for roses?
Yes, roses like the tannic acid content of tea. After applying old tea leaves around the rose bushes, you water your roses so that nutrients of tea can seep into the soil. This method makes your roses grow like crazy.
How can I make my roses bloom more?
Choose a bloom-heavy breed that gives you over one round of blooms every season.
“Deadheading” means you will cut spent roses’ stems that are kept in a set of 5 leaves. This tip helps new rose bushes look better.
Fertilizing and watering your roses on schedule can keep them thriving.
For pruning, you need to remove dead, weak, and diseased canes, side branches, then cut down the height of the strongest and healthiest rose canes.
Do roses prefer acidic or alkaline soil?
Acidic (6-7)
How often should I fertilize my roses?
Every 4-6 weeks.
Conclusion
Many people don’t like organic fertilizer because it doesn’t have a lot of nutrients compared to inorganic products. However, the former is more environmentally friendly, even some of them can improve soil and support beneficial microbes.
So, what’s the best organic fertilizer for roses? Don’t forget to tell me your decision.
