bactericide for crown gall

10 years ago

Does anyone know a good bactericide to use for drenching the soil around the area where I just removed a rose bush infected with bacterial Crown Gall?

I can't find a website where I can purchase the ones that I saw on the web (Galltrol and Gallex). Is there something else I can use?

andrea

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User

10 years ago

This is a post by Karl three years ago on the subject. I have a Teasing Geogia that is developing galls. I will try his method this coming spring. See below

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I do surgery on the infected plant. I remove it from the soil and wash all the soil off the roots. I place it on a newspaper and carefully remove the gall. Using an Exacto knife I carefully cut away the area where the gall was attached, until I get to clean uninfected wood..I then put antibacteria ointment on the wound. The cheap stuff from Wal-Mart.
I mix a cup of bleach in 5 gallons of water, drench the soil where the rose was planted, then replant the bush treating it as a bare root.
Every rose I've treated this way has recovered and grown nicely.
Crown Gall is from a bacteria in the soil so it made sense to me to treat it as a bacteria infection.
Don't know if anyone else has done this but it works for me and I've never lost a bush to Crown Gall as a result.
Great care must be taken to avoid nicking the bush anywhere close to the ground. Crown gall can enter through a pruner nick, or an insect bite or even a scrape in the bark. I wrap up the gall removed from the plant and destroy it.

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Comments (6)

henryinct
10 years ago
Your soil is full of bacteria and worms which cause it to become rich and fertile. You couldn't have compost without bacteria. Do you really want to kill everything in your soil? Stop worrying about galls. I would do what Karl does except you don't need to dig up the rose and replant it. Galls are very slow. They wont come back for a long time if the do.
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I grow Nicotiana, flowering tobacco, of many varieties all over the place here and have never seen galls on any. (By the way, if you teach plant biology and want a surefire, fast-acting pollen for pollen-germination exercises, Nicotiana never fails.) The bacteria is around, however, and I have had maybe three roses infected over 13 years here, two of which I discarded. The big (and I mean "big" in every sense of the word) is my 'Mrs. B.R. Cant', which started showing symptoms of crown gall (or something very like it!) about 8 years ago or so -- a big, crusty swelling at the base and then various "tumors" along the canes. My heart sank. I kept meaning to take her out, but delayed and delayed because she occupies a large amount of real estate (being 8' tall and more than 14' wide now) in a prominent position on a hillside, which I would then have to re-do (sigh), plus I absolutely love her. And, anyway, she has never seemed to suffer any decline in growth, bloom, or overall appearance during all this time (which I keep waiting for, but it hasn't happened yet), so there she stays, the exception to the "rule".
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The galls are actually the plant's response to the bacterium's presence in the past. Whether it continues to exist in your soil or not, I don't know. It appears very common and wide spread in the desert south west, perhaps other areas too. Supposedly, what is required is a wound at or below the soil level to permit the bacteria entry into the plant. Therefore, it would seem unwise to prune roots when planting or to influence a plant's performance. It would also seem very unwise to "cultivate" your garden soil anywhere there may be rose feeder roots as those "wounds" could, potentially permit any bacteria entry into the plant. Similarly, "companion plantings" might also be potentially damaging, particularly in established rose beds. Digging a hole, of any size, could result in "wounded" rose roots, providing entry to possible infection by the bacterium. And, what about gopher vole or mole damage to the roots? Moles may not eat the roots, but they do dig through them and can cause "wounds" to root tissue. There are instructions all over suggesting you remove and replace the soil from a spot where a galled plant has been removed, though if it's possible the bacterium exists in your soil, what benefit would there be to replacing that soil in that spot? And, could the situation be similar to that of RMV, where, though you've never SEEN symptoms, the causal agent has been present for a long time prior to the expression of symptoms? I can't give you absolute answers, but I do raise these other questions to possibly point out that, other than using something like Galltrol and insuring there will never be any damage to the rose tissues where they may become infected, there really may not be much, if anything, you can do to prevent galls.
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Yup, I agree with Seil. I just dealt with this on a rose I was attempting to transplant. I cut into the growth and it looked like cauliflower inside - a whitish/cream/yellow color. I removed the rose and the soil and will leave the space vacant or plant something else in it's spot. Doesn't feel good especially if a rose that you love that's not currently available to replace. Sorry!
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@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw they arent from the same place. The original culprit came from RVR but its neigbor was from Heirloom.. Since this is a rooftop balcony my thinking is that the persistent and sometimes strong winds could've easily swept some infected soil, or as @susan9santabarbara said some errant water splashed. Its weird because this rose (Tahitian Sunset) did so well until one day it simply stopped doing anything—not a single sign of growth in months. But given how hard and woody the growth felt, and its shape is almost square (like a small container Heirloom may use for rooting) I dismissed the poor performance as just a slow own root grower and the growth as some sort of callous. But the pictures look way more gall like sadly.
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hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
10 years ago
Galltrol-A or Gallex are generally what is recommended.

Here is a link that might be useful: Galltrol-A / Gallex
andreark
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks all.

hoovb,

Those were the two products that I found when researching bactericides. Unfortunately, their websites don't show where to purchase or their telephone numbers are disconnected. If you have more info on them, please let me know. Thanks for your input.

Regan's has a small Francis Meilland for me. And just to be safe, I think I will plant it in one of my large pots (24 gallons) and place the pot where the original was planted. I will be able to leave it in the pot for a couple of years.

As my friend and local rosarian said, this gall is not one of the 'slow' types. It grew to tennis ball size in a matter of less than 2 months.

Thanks again y'all,

andrea
Tessiess, SoCal Inland, 9b, 1272' elev
10 years ago
Andrea, just in case you are interested in another option for dealing with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, I'm posting the link below, which is basically suggesting rotating a resistant species in the area where the galled plant was. According to the article at the link, "Growing a nonsusceptible crop, such as grass, for three years can essentially eliminate the bacteria from the soil".

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Exten., Crown Gall of Woody Ornamentals
andreark
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Tessiess,

I've seen that option mentioned. Actually at that very site. That site suggested letting the soil 'rest' for a few years. I really like university sites. The problem is that it's a raised bed with only roses. It's probably the best option for the soil. But it wouldn't look great with 7 roses and a bunch of pansies. (a joke, of course)

The spot is the furthest back in my yard and is behind other roses The pot would therefore be 'hidden' from view.

Thanks so much for answering,

andrea

bactericide for crown gall

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henryinct

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bactericide for crown gall

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