The follwing was stated by jokewing: "jJust wondering why henry kuska ONLY makes posts having to do with diseases and death? Has anyone else noticed this? Why is he even worried about roses if the thinks they are so disease ridden? " H.Kuska comment: Jockewing, perhaps your own post is a good explanation as to why I feel knowledge about what is known/unknown about rose diseases is important. "Posted by jockewing 9a (My Page) on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 16:18 Yes Thornton, I hope you are right. With the amazing science we have today, I'm surprised more roses with such qualities have not been released. It just baffles me that the most beautiful flower we are able to grow is plagued with so many problems. Why must that be? There are so many beautiful plants that are such a breeze, but in my opinion nothing is so special as a classic hybrid tea rose. Why must they be plagued with so many diseases and pests? I admire the Knockouts, but I just don't think they are beautiful except perhaps in mass plantings from a distance, say at a commercial building or along the highway. We want giant flowered hybrid teas with the same vigor!!! It really makes me sad that virtually NO ONE I know in my area grows any classic hybrid teas at all, with may the exception of a few here or there, usually in an older neighborhood." http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg0715030426702.html ----------------------------------------------- Additional H.Kuska comment: If you are interested in my other contributions to rose growing why not do a Google search with the search terms: "Henry Kuska" and roses or you could get a partial view at the following thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg0411322117173.html Here is a link that might be useful: link to earlier thread This post was edited by henry_kuska on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 16:33

The following was stated: “Suspect. Treat plants with RRD with hydrogen peroxide. According to members of the RRD Task Force there is no credible data to show that hydrogen peroxide will help a plant infected with RRD. In fact, hydrogen peroxide has the ability to damage plants.” ———————————— H.Kuska Comment: Concerning the "credible data" part the above is strictly correct, but there is credible data that externally applied hydrogen peroxide can contribute to the plant's ability to fight viruses in other plants. But before we look at that part, lets get rid of the "has the ability to damage plants". No reference(s) was/were given. Of course hydrogen peroxide in too high a concentration can damage plants. A recent field of study concerns the chemistry of "RNA silencing pathway in the plant defense against viruses" as a means that plants utilize to defend themselves against viruses. Two chemicals that are easily available to the home gardener that have been shown by controlled published research to instigate the RNA silencing pathway in the plant defense against viruses are aspirin and hydrogen peroxide. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will give two examples for hydrogen peroxide. 1) http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0076090 Title: "The Role of Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide in the Induction of Plant-Encoded RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase 1 in the Basal Defense against Tobacco Mosaic Virus" Published in 2013. This is a very complete (and complex) scientific study so I will just extract the following: " Pretreatment with H2O2 or SNP significantly decreased TMV susceptibility, and these leaves did not show any visible systemic symptoms." In the Discussion section the following appears: "This signaling pathway may be a general pathway common to plants." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Example 2. http://www.akademiai.com/doi/abs/10.1556/APhyt.46.2011.1.1 Title: " Inhibition of virus replication and symptom expression by reactive oxygen species in tobacco infected with Tobacco mosaic virus " “In spite of the enormous information from research on genetics of plant disease resistance, the question still remains unresolved: what is directly inhibiting or killing pathogens and suppressing symptoms in resistant plants? This is particularly true for resistance to viral infections. Here we show that externally applied reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or ROS-producing (O 2·− [superoxide] and H2O2) chemical systems infiltrated into tobacco leaves 2 hours after inoculation suppress replication of Tobacco mosaicvirus (TMV) in the susceptible Samsun (nn) cultivar. This was determined by a biological and a real-time PCR method. Infiltration of leaves of the resistant Xanthi (NN) cultivar with the ROS-producing chemicals and H2O2 significantly suppressed local necrotic lesions (i.e. the hypersensitive response) after inoculation of tobacco leaves with TMV. Accordingly, an early accumulation or external application of ROS, such as O 2·− and H2O2, in tobacco may contribute to the development of resistance to TMV infection.”

I added what I had on Friday. I can see the addition, but it was never recorded in the number of posts???? Title: "First report of rose rosette disease caused by Rose rosette virus on Knock Out roses in Louisiana." Author(s) : Singh, R.; Valverde, R.; Cook, M.; Owings, A. Author Affiliation : Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. Author Email : rsingh@agcenter.lsu.edu Journal article : Plant Health Progress 2016 No.August pp.PHP-BR-16-0022 ref.1 Abstract : " To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of rose rosette disease caused by Rose rosette virus on Knock Out roses in Louisiana. It is difficult to assess the total value of roses in Louisiana but this disease has the potential to negatively impact the thriving rose industry in the state."

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I know Chitosan is natually abundant in shrimp shells and crab shells, so it might be a good idea to start burying some shrimp shell in the garden....even if they don’t help prevent viral diseases such as RRV, it will at least be good fertilizer rich in phosphate. Claire