Allotments 4 All

Last year I bought a lovely rose bush which I popped in a container by my front door.  It only managed to produce one flower this year and is now looking terribly poorly - something's started to eat the leaves, and many of the leaves have very weird white-ish spots on them (they look exactly like those funny bits of limescale you sometimes get floating around at the bottom of a kettle).  I'm at my wits' end and haven't got a clue what's wrong.  It doesn't *look* like the pictures I've seen of powdery mildew and I can't see any slugs or caterpillars about.

Has anyone got any bright ideas what the problem might be?  More importantly, what should I be doing to treat it?   ???

Ok..first..when you planted your rose..what compost did you use? How big is the container? Was the compost all new?
Did you used any fertilizer when you planted it and anything given since?..if so, how often?
Have you sprayed your rose with fungicides/pesticides?
Where do you source the water for watering from?
Once we've got more backround info..we've got more idea where things might have gone wrong .. ;)

You said something is eating the leaves? Have you checked the leaves all over for culprits? What are the eaten bits like? Any particular shape? Have you checked in the soil for grubs?

Have you fed the rose and kept it watered? More questions than answers at the moment I'm afraid!

Right......

The compost came from a bag given to me by my father.  Afraid I can't remember what brand it was, but it was two-three months old if that helps?  I've not fed or sprayed the plant at all as I wanted to have a go at being organic, but perhaps that's where I went wrong?  Watering has been a bit erratic - not every day - and the water comes from the kitchen tap.  The plant also gets some rainwater.  The pot's probably c. 30cm deep (I'm very bad at guesstimating sizes!).  The holes on the leaves are fairly small and in the centre of the leaves, but one or two leaves have been so thoroughly chomped that there's not much leaf left!  I can't see any insects on the leaves anywhere, but there's a couple of cobwebs on the plant.  One or two of the leaves have a few brown spots, but there's also some new growth which seems to be ok (so far).

I'm off to the garden centre at lunchtime to get some stuff for the allotment, so if there's anything I should be picking up for a poorly rose plant then I'd love to know!  (And I'm quite happy to give up the organic approach if it'll save my lovely plant....)

I'm about to rush off out muself but for some general advice you could look her
http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/Advanced.asp?PageId=2006or here:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=191#section5
Roses need fertiliser which can be organic. I'm pretty sur SB plant invigorator is organic too.

Container grown roses need more support than roses planted in the ground since they depend on you entirely. Is your rose suitable for container growing? is the containerr big enough for the type of rose?

Cobwebs could indicate red spider mite which suck the sap and could certainly make your rose look poorly. If it is, I am not aware of organic control methods, but others might be.

Take examples of your problem leaves to your garden centre and ask them. THey should be able to tell you what is wrong and suggest a solution.

Unless you rose is miniature type...it will need substantial planter. Shrub roses will need almost half a barrel size planters for to able to grow in permanently.
As for compost..roses will need soil based 'compost'..multipurpose is not suitable for long term. Look something like John Innes no 2 or 3.
As for feeding...Roses need plenty of 'food' for to able to perform. Any fertilizer in compost will only last 4-6 weeks..maximum..and then its all gone.
Being organic and using fertilizers is not a problem. During growing season..March-Mid September give handfull of Blood, fish and bone meal by sprinkling on surface of the compost and water it in. Once your Shrub start forming flower buds you can use organic tomato fertilizer..mix with water and use it once every other week. Once the growing and flowering start coming to an end you can leave the feeding for the winter as the plant won't need much when dormant.
Sounds like you rose is just generally 'unwell'..and then they are prone for all sorts of 'attacts'
Many things will corrects themselves during winter..just make sure for now that you remove any fallen leaves.
Give you shrub good feed now..and let it gain some 'strength'..end of Feb or so as soon as you see new buds coming on bare stems, it would be good to knock it off its pot and maybe remove some of the compost around the roots and start again by getting some new soil based compost and larger pot. ;)
Once the new leaves have come through..tidy off any dead growth and you've given it good start for the year.

So, to summarize:

My pot's too small, I should have been feeding my rose and I've almost certainly not been giving it enough water.  Apart from that, I'm an expert rose-grower  ;D

Seriously, thanks for the suggestions and links.  I'll start feeding the plant straight away and will transplant it in February.  Hopefully that'll do the trick, but I'll have a look at David Austen in case the plant's been attacked on top of everything else.

in case the plant's been attacked on top of everything else I'm sure your leaves been attacked by some insect..but it will only be unsightly thing. Rarely leaf eating will cause serious damage.
But if you feel like giving a good hosing down to your plant..that should knock off any 'critters' that sould hide there and same time your plant will get good drink too ;)

The only thing I'd add is that water is very important for roses.
I had a patio rose in a 45cm pot that was about 80cm deep and couldn't figure out why it looked so yellow and miserable - until I put it on a watering system and it suddenly began to thrive.