It probably was RRD, but do look up pictures of herbicide (Round-Up) damage on roses too. The two are similar enough to occasionally be mistake for one another.

My sympathies, josh. I was so upset my first couple outbreaks in my garden. Actually, it is still disturbing--just not quite as upsetting as at first.

Start thinking of a good replacement rose--that will get your mind off your sorrow.

Kate

Well, drat. Looks like I will be keeping my eye in an Ambridge Rose. It showed signs too of RRD growth this morning so I took the cane off. How RRD came to be on my back porch, I will never know.

Thank you, everyone, for your reassuring words. Kate you are right, this is just Ma Nature's way of letting me grow more roses. Perhaps she knows that I need the room for my soon to be in-bound Vintage order.

Josh

When you describe your area as being surrounded by a fence, that may be the key to why the disease landed there.

The vector mites are wingless, they are carried by air, and when the air (wind) speed drops (as in the leeward side of a fence) the mites are dropped onto whatever is there.

Josh, don't ever remove just the nasty RRD shoot, but always the underlying cane to grade or below grade. I think recurrence would be certain if you just remove the gross stuff.

Also, spread out the pots so the plants don't touch each other.

Michael,

I'll go home and whack back the plant. It's still a small tyke, but if it knows what's best for it then it will just have to adapt.

I didn't know about the mite detail. Can they sail over 10 foot fences? It's so odd.

Josh

Josh

I had no idea this disease had already reached as far west as Texas. I suppose it will be only a matter of time before we in California have it too.

Josh, I'm so sorry that this is happening to you when you're just starting out with growing roses. It's so totally unfair. I hope you don't have any more outbreaks.

Sorry for your loss. Photos might be helpful to confirm the disease.

Gardens in Texas have had RRD for over a decade.

The mites are tiny and very light weight. How tiny? About the size of a foot on an aphid.

Two years ago someone in NYC had RRD on a rose on her balcony, up in a skyscraper in Manhatten.

Jim Amrine's students studied insects and acarids in clouds and found eriophyid mites in samples taken from clouds. They didn't find the RRD vector, but they recovered a lot of other mites of the same size and lifestyle.

Hoovb,

Here is a link to a thread showing the growth

Unfortunately, we have indeed had RRD for a while here in the Lone Star. If Ma Nature decides to take out a couple roses, I'll just have to get more. I just hope my one gallon Teas out back don't contract it, that would be heartbreaking.

Josh

RRD, yep.

Very sorry to hear that, Josh.
I lost my first ever rose to RRD this year. It was 'Rise N Shine', which my daughter and I planted when she was a little girl in the garden just outside her bedroom window. She' s now 21 years old and goes to college out of state. To say the least, it was very sad for it to happen to that particular rose. She nicknamed the rose "flashlight" when she was very young, because it's yellow blooms reminded her of the light beaming from a flashlight.

That rose had a spectacular spring, with lots of great blooms. Then in the summer, it began the odd growth and before long was nothing but sticks.
So far, the Nur Mahal rose growing next to it shows no indication of ailment. And not far away is the grand matriarch of all my roses ... 'Reine des Violettes'. Thankfully, that prized scent-from-heaven rose is a picture of health.

Randy

Josh, where in Texas are you located? Also RRD can take a while to manifest itself and your roses may have been infected when you bought them. Where did they come from? Finally, I believe that the virus is systemic in the plant and no trimming will eliminate it; all parts of the plant must be removed.

The following was stated: "Finally, I believe that the virus is systemic in the plant and no trimming will eliminate it; all parts of the plant must be removed."

H.Kuska comment. Do you mean in this case or in all rose rosette virus infections? If you mean in all rose rosette virus infections, do you have any links to studies that support this?

From Virginia Tech: http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/450/450-620/450-620_pdf.pdf

Any suspect roses should be removed and destroyed immediately or monitored for continued symptoms and removed as soon as presence of RRD is ascertained. In some areas, burning is permitted and can be used to destroy diseased plants.

On second thought, maybe Henry wasn't reading Porkpal's statement the way I was or maybe I wasn't answering the question Henry was asking. Porkpal was addressing Josh about his own plant - at least that's the way I read it. Maybe Henry was trying to widen the scope, but I don't think Porkpal was. Who knows? I guess it's all in the perception. Lou

It is not immediately systemic in the whole plant. It begins when one growth bud (or less frequently a growth tip) is infected. The mites like to settle in the crack where a leaf stem is attached and growth buds are located. Then the RRD growth will develop rapidly from that site. Because the plant juices are rather slow to move downward, it takes a while for the systemic infection to reach the crown and infect other main canes. What's "a while"? I don't know, but even if you monitor frequently, you will probably not notice the bad growth until it is too late to save the plant by removing the underlying cane at the base. I've had a very low success rate of 10% or 15%.

If you try this, be sure to remove any (healthy) parts of the suspect plant that are touching or nearly touching neighboring roses. The midges may crawl around. Also if the RRD growth was touching other leaves, I would cut the whole plant down.

With own-rooted roses that have developed a wide crown, you may have a better chance of saving something by digging the plant and splitting off a piece on the uninfected side that has some cane, some crown, and some root.

This post was edited by michaelg on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 15:51

Josh, I'm sorry too.

I dread the arrival of this scourge here in California. I fear that it is inevitable.

Rosefolly

Michaelg has clarified the method of transmission and progression of RRD better than I have been able to learn up to now. Thanks! I still am interested to know where Josh is located and where he bought the infected plants. I guess as it takes "a while" for the virus to spread, it might also be important to know how long he had the plants before noticing the symptoms. Since I am in Texas too the information is of great interest to me.
Josh?

Porkpal, if you are interested in keeping up to date with what is known about "real" rose rosette virus, I suggest that you read the information at the following website (and check it periodically for updates). A problem with "old" information is that (unless the sample passed the grafting test) there was no way to establish that it was infected by the virus (i.e. no PCR test available) instead of showing herbicide damage symptoms. Unless someone here posts that their identification, lack of identification, etc. was based on a PCR test their experience/observations cannot be regarded as conclusive. Apparently the next best observation is to observe symptoms and also observe the presence of the mites on the "suspect" plant. From the link below none of the first 6 submitted "suspect" plants passed (or flunked - depending on your viewpoint) the PCR test. i.e, PCR could not find the virus. I do not know how often that web page will be updated.

Here is a link that might be useful: unofficial rose rosette virus clearing house

Good information, thanks!

porkpal--

Although infected roses may be asymptomatic, chances are that Josh did not buy an infected plant. Chances are his plant was infected in his yard by an airborne mite. They fly on the wind on silk threads over great distances. However, the chance of infection is much greater if there are infected roses in the immediate neighborhood.

It doesn't take "a while" for the symptoms to show. It can take as little as two to four weeks.

Grafting to show takes longer because it depends on the alignment of the conducting individual tissues.