Rose Mosaic Virus & bloom quality

10 years ago

About thirty years ago, when I made my first attempt at growing roses I planted a few roses I ordered from Jackson and Perkins. One that I planted at that time was Proud Land. I was quite pleased with the performance of that rose bush. It gave me lots of velvety red blooms with a little black around the petal edges, I remember it being very lovely. Of course that rose is long gone. One time, probably around 2002 I was in Wal-Mart and bought a body bag of that same variety. That is a rare occurrence for me, it is something I almost never do. But since it was Proud Land and I think it was only $4.99, I thought I would go ahead and get it. Actually I had it for several years and it didn't perform too badly, but it was infected with rose mosaic virus. It bloomed fairly well, but the blooms were never like what I remembered on that first Proud Land. Does the mosaic virus effect the quality of the blooms? They were OK blooms, but not anything like what I remember on my first Proud Land. Is it a common occurrence to get infected roses when you purchase the body bag roses from the big box stores?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

User
10 years ago
"Is it a common occurrence to get infected roses when you purchase the body bag roses from the big box stores?"

Yes!
seil zone 6b MI
10 years ago
Yes, probably most body bag roses are infected. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the root stock of what ever mother plant the buds were taken from was infected and they were probably grafted to infected root stock as well.

As for the difference in your blooms I doubt it had to do with RMV but more likely was due to the all around inferior quality of the plant. Most of those body bags are not grade #1 but more likely #1 1/2 or #2 grade. Depending on where it was from it may have been badly grafted, was certainly badly handled and pretty well whacked off for packaging. Not an auspicious start for any rose. I have many virused roses in my garden and have never noticed any difference in their over all vigor. For the most part they rarely even show symptoms except in times of great stress. Hmmm...like maybe this awful winter! We'll see...

We have this discussion about RMV routinely here and there are two opposing sides. Listen to them both and make your own decision as to what you're willing to except. There are some roses out there that can not be had any other way then virused. They were more or less bred/introduced already virused since the only way they were ever propagated was to be grafted to virused root stock. Being that Proud Land was introduced in 1969 it may well be one of those. There have been strides taken to get more varieties cleaned up but it's a long road and will take some time yet before it's done. And we may lose some varieties altogether in the process. In our already shrinking rose world I hate to see that happen.
Related Discussions
Rose Mosaic Virus on Maria Stern?
Q
Comments (9)
I just discovered that two of my grafted Brownell's which I have had for years have RMV....two Charlotte Brownells and one of my Rhode Island Red climbers. I have read somewhere that most of the grafted Brownells are virused, but I was hoping I would be one of the lucky ones. This will be the first incident of RMV ever for me. The sad thing is, both of my virused Charlotte Brownells have been the most productive bloomers of all my hybrid teas. For years they put all the others to shame. Since nothing is blooming here until next month, I don't know if the bloom quality will be the same but in terms of the bush and foliage they are growing vigorously and setting loads of buds. I know they will eventually start to decline, but so far, the only telltale sign was the leaf markings which are now fading into shiny green now that the weather has warmed up. If I hadn't seen the markings earlier I would never guess these were virused roses. The problem here in zone 4 is that these poor plants have a lot to face going into winter. Its hard enough on the healthy roses! I plan on keeping them just as they are until they look sickly. They have brought me years of pleasure so I will have a hard time parting with them. I don't believe they pose any danger to surrounding roses. Sorry about your Maria Stern. So far mine has not shown any signs, but I would not be too surprised if its just a matter of time. Celeste
...See More
Rose Mosaic Virus - What to do?
Q
Comments (15)
One of the most common viruses in the RMV group is PNRSV. It is a temperature sensitive virus. See http://home.roadrunner.com/~kuska/info_about_virus.htm for details. I suggest a modification to michaelg's post on Tue, Oct 13, 09 at 15:49, he stated: "Let's say "since it very rarely spreads" and avoid the recurrent squabble." I suggest: "Lets say "since it probably very rarely spreads in warm climates, unless planted close to diseased roses. The following research has been reported: "Virus spread was observed in multiple trials in which healthy bushes were planted in close proximity (approximately 30 cm) to virus infected bushes. After one year, approximately 10% of the healthy plants became infected. After two years, rate of virus spread ranged from 0% to 48% to depending on virus strain and rose variety.". In this quoted University of California, Davis study ( http://www.actahort.org/books/751/751_26.htm ) , the viruses are thought to spread underground, (possibly by the formation of root-to root grafts). --------------------------------- I feel that rose virus research in cooler parts of the country is needed before northern gardeners can confidently decide what actions/precautions to take. The second post in the following thread describes some of the present rose virus research being done in a northern climate: http://www.rosehybridizers.org/forum/message.php?topid=23447&rc=2&ui=2316041392 Here is a link that might be useful: link for on going northern climate research
...See More
worried about rose mosaic virus (RMV)
Q
Comments (25)
This April 2009 "University of Georgia Agricultural Extension article" is of interest because it does NOT mention the confusing, misleading term "RMV" and DOES mention spread by prunning and insects: "Viral Diseases There are several viral diseases of roses. Most of these maladies are transmitted to non-infected plants through vegetative propagation processes used by commercial rose producers or through pruning. There is some evidence that at least two of these viral diseases are transmitted to other plants by insects or spider mites. Viral infected roses tend to be less vigorous, are more susceptible to other diseases, and are less likely to tolerate environmental stresses as healthy plants do. There are at least six known viral diseases of roses. Yellow and green mosaic patterns, leaf distortion and ring spots are possible symptoms of virus infections. (Figure 12) Others that exhibit viral-like symptoms have not been linked to a particular virus. It is not unusual to encounter plants infected with more than one virus. Also, such occurrences usually cause problems in positive identification. Some chemical toxicities and nutrient deficiencies express symptoms similar to those caused by viral diseases. Removing severely infected plants may be the only solution. Preventive measures to prohibit the spread of viruses include disinfecting pruning shears when moving from one plant to another, and a good insect control program is a must. Also, buy plants that are apparently healthy and exhibit no peculiar foliar symptoms (Figure 13)." ----------------------------------------------------- The 2010 University of California Davis -Ventura County extension article on rose virus also does not use the term "RMV" and also discusses pruning as a means of spread: http://ceventura.ucdavis.edu/Coastal_Gardener/Rose_Virus.htm Here is a link that might be useful: U. of Georgia article
...See More
Could this be Rose Mosaic Virus, or something else?
Q
Comments (11)
The rose slugs I have can be seen on the underside of the leaf. When they're big enuf. The young ones rasp away a layer of leaf and as they grow they eat all the way thru, leaving only the veins. Leaf miners leave a pattern like above. They do not skeletize leaves like rose slugs do. Just more tunnels appear. Sometimes holding a tunneled leaf to the sunlight will show a dark spot at one end of a tunnel. That's the leaf miner.
...See More
henry_kuska
10 years ago
The Jan-Feb 2014 issue of the magazine of the American Rose Society has a short article titled "What is the truth about Rose Mosaic Virus? In it the author states that "Reports that plants with mosaic might produce fewer flowers or flowers with poorer exhibition form have never been proven."

See page 46: http://www.joomag.com/magazine/american-rose-january-february-2014/0521442001391189487

--------------------------
The article does not mention that Rose Mosaic Virus is a group names for viruses that infect roses and give mosaic type symptoms. It also does not mention that even within one type of virus there can be weaker and stronger strains. Also, each hybrid rose variety can have a stronger or weaker immune system than another variety for each type of virus. And that the strenght of the immune system against some of the types of viruses is temperature dependent. (For these types, the higher the temperature the better the rose is able to resist the virus.)

Regarding flower quality, the actahort reference reports: "The trials were conducted in four locations under intensive production conditions during the winter months, similar to the commercial routine. In all trials healthy plants yielded over 30% more quality-grade flowers, "Super" and "Extra", than PNRSV infected plants."

http://www.actahort.org/books/234/234_52.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: link to American Rose Magazine, see page 46
sara_ann-z6bok
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you, everyone.
seil zone 6b MI
10 years ago
You make a good point, Henry, about there being more than one virus under the RMV umbrella. There are a lot of variables involved and one rose with RMV could preform completely differently from another even if they're the same variety.

Rose Mosaic Virus & bloom quality

Comments (5)

User

seil zone 6b MI

Related Discussions

henry_kuska

sara_ann-z6bok
Original Author

seil zone 6b MI

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Rose Mosaic Virus & bloom quality

Comments (5)

User

seil zone 6b MI

Related Discussions

henry_kuska

sara_ann-z6bokOriginal Author

seil zone 6b MI

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

sara_ann-z6bok
Original Author