Curdle,

I hope you discarded all the soil in the PJPII pot in a secure waste bag, then removed off your property. Then, a thorough disinfection of the pot in which it grew, as well as all the tools that came in contact with the bush or its pot's soil should be done.

The only case of root gall that I am aware I have had so far was 4 years ago on an own root Belinda's Dream, purchased online as a gallon pot from a well known mail order nursery, stateside. It had been growing in the ground in my rose bed for about 3 years when I discovered its root gall as I was moving it to a different spot.

There was only one root gall on the bush. It was about 8" out from the crown attached to a very thin root. It was the size of a golf ball, very round and rough, heavy for its size, and as hard as a rock. What surprised me the most was that the Belinda's Dream it grew on was a vigorous bush and showed no above ground signs of the gall on its root.

I immediately discarded the bush in the trash can, but I did not disinfect the tools used or remove the soil in the area where it grew.

To this date no rose growing in or near the spot in the bed where the infected Belinda's Dream grew has shown anything but good vigor. Does this mean the root gall bacteria has not infected any other roses? I cannot say for sure, who could? There are no above ground signs of anything but strong growth. Does this mean the root gall bacterial has died out? How can I tell. Do all/some of my roses have root gall and show no symptoms? Maybe.

These are all questions that linger in my mind. I think my mind would be more at ease if I had removed the soil in the area in which the infected rose grew, and also disinfected the tools used. That is why I have advised you to take all the precautions I did not take. I have no excuse for being careless in my case, and am fortunate my roses are all growing well in spite of me.

A word about Pope John Paul II...

There have been so many mixed reports on the vigor of PJPII that I would not necesarily lay the blame for its poor performance for you on the root gall it had. Just a thought, in light of the vigor my Belinda's Dream showed in spite of its root gall. Maybe its decline was yet to manifest itself. I may have just moved it before the visual effects of the infestation took place. No way of knowing for sure.

Maybe root gall is a benign infestation, unlike crown gall.

Moses, why are you so anguished??? Here, I quote what you wrote:

"The only case of root gall that I am aware I have had so far was 4
years ago on an own root Belinda's Dream.... It had been
growing in the ground in my rose bed for about 3 years when I discovered
its root gall as I was moving it to a different spot.

There was only one root gall on the bush. It was about 8" out from
the crown attached to a very thin root. It was the size of a golf ball,
very round and rough, heavy for its size, and as hard as a rock What surprised me the most was that the Belinda's Dream it grew on was a
vigorous bush and showed no above ground signs of the gall on its root.

I immediately discarded the bush in the trash can, but I did not
disinfect the tools used or remove the soil in the area where it grew.

To this date no rose growing in or near the spot in the bed where the
infected Belinda's Dream grew has shown anything but good vigor. Does
this mean the root gall bacteria has not infected any other roses? I
cannot tell. There are no above ground signs of anything but strong
growth. Does this mean the root gall bacterial has died out? How can I
tell. Do all/some of my roses have root gall and show no symptoms?
Maybe.

These are all questions that linger in my mind. I think my mind
would be more at ease if I had removed the soil in the area in which the
infected rose grew, and also disinfected the tools used."

It sounds to me that everything is going well, that you did the exactly right thing, and now there are no more problems. I don't understand why you are still worrying about this isssue,since everything is going/growing well and happy.My own impression is that galls,in estblished plants, develop in plants that are basically unhappy (bad, bad , bad soil conditions)

Why not take a look at this thread? I don't know how to make links, but you can do a "cut-and-paste"

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1611210/do-i-disinfect-soil-that-had-rose-w-crown-gall

@ Curdle, I think you did right to chuck that plant. I think you got a dud. It's not a rare rose, not worth bending over backwards. Just buy another one....FROM A DIFFERENT NURSERY!!! >One thing I definitely AM hearing from the Rose Forum is that there is a certain gall issue going on in certain nurseries in the USA. If I were you, I'd make inquiries about that on the forums...
.

I agree with Patty W.

Thanks guys- looks like PJ stays in the bin then. I do have another younger one (and yep, its from a different nursery)

Pity- It was only about 3 years old, and always been fairly healthy/robust until the last year or so..I vaguely remember repotting it last year. I did do a bit of online research on gall removal, but it was mostly basic how to's and little about results afterwards, so I was interested to hear if anyone had been successful.

Curdle(Trish I think) is there anyway of placing a photo of the subject on here please before you exile the Pope to eternity.

Bart,

Thanks for your response to my root gall experience.

In our rose gardens there are roses that just do not perform well for us. I know I am speaking for everyone, with respect. Usually we know the reasons: bush planted in shadiest spot in garden, forgot to spray, did not give winter protection, etc., all conditions that have a clear reason for occurring, and clear solutions. Also, all the problems were caused by above ground actions, or inactions.

Now that I know there is the gall bacteria present in my soil, when a rose is not doing well, be it a new addition or an old veteran, and all the possible reasons for the problem are checked off, the likelihood the reason is root gall presents itself...a new, additional groan inducer.

Do I wait and see what happens next to my suspect rose, doubling down my care in case I dropped the ball on some care issue unaware? Or, do I dig up the rose and examine its roots? You can't see root galls above ground, obviously, unlike crown/stem galls. A root exam is what has to be done to know for sure...a major undertaking.

So you see, every time I find a rose not doing well I have the added possibility of having to 'dig it up,' to find out for sure what's going on. Hence my perturbation. Old folks like me get perturbed easily. Although for the most part, I keep happy. Who wouldn't with roses.

Check out this discussion on an old thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1611210/do-i-disinfect-soil-that-had-rose-w-crown-gall. This is what Karl said:"When I find a rose with crown gall and I'm afraid some of it may have
broken off, I disinfect the soil with a 5% bleach solution. I take a 5
gallon bucket filled with water and dluted bleach and drench the area of
the bush. I replant as soon as the water has drained.
If none has broken off, I don't bother to disinfect. The bacteria that
causes crown gall is in the soil naturally and I'm not about to
disinfect my whole yard."

I'd think that the same thing goes for root gall,in which case the course that seems most reasonable with a rose that looks poorly would be to wait and see,giving it extra care. If it still doesn't pick up after a year or two, THEN dig it out and chuck it.