Roses: Unveiling the elegance and battle against pests with vodka

Roses inspire painters and writers and are symbols of love and passion. They are the most beautiful garden flowers. However, their cultivation can present challenges due to fungal diseases and rampant pests, but you can protect them with a simple spray.

Elegant, colourful, fragrant — roses stand out as the most beautiful flowers, inspiring painters, writers, poets, artists, and perfumers for years. Despite the difficulty, this allure explains why so many plant them in their gardens. The bushes are quite fussy and susceptible to disease.

There are 20,000 kinds of roses worldwide, each varying in colour and form. The bushes can grow from about 1 to 2 meters in height and thrive in flower beds, pots, or the ground. Roses are demanding, requiring routine watering, fertilization, and pruning for optimal growth.

It is crucial to provide roses with ideal conditions for bushes brimming with flowers. Roses prefer sunny spots shielded from the wind and thrive in fertile, clayey soil with a neutral to slightly acidic pH level.

Roses need consistent watering, especially in the spring-summer period, at least once a week with ample water applied straight to the roots. It’s important to avoid wetting the leaves to prevent fungal disease.

Caring for roses can seem straightforward, yet fungal diseases and pests pose significant risks. One unconventional protector? Vodka. Although it may sound odd, vodka has a long history in gardening for its protective benefits.

Vodka disinfects the soil, deters pests, and can even enhance and prolong the flowering period of roses. Mix two cups of pure vodka with about 10 litres of water to use it. This solution, which you should use approximately 3 litres directly on the roots, should be reapplied every two weeks during the blooming season.

Consider a spray made of water, vodka, and grey soap to combat pests. Dissolve 40 grams of grey soap in 1 litre of water, then add 100 millilitres of vodka. Apply this blend to infected leaves in the early morning or late evening to avoid burn.