Can nematodes be transferred to a pot?

8 years ago

Hi all. I recently made a bed of all David Austin Roses that
I got for my birthday from my husband. (He got me a gift certificate which I
used to purchase the roses of my choice). I got them all grafted on Dr. Huey because
that’s pretty much how they come from D.A. and the varieties I wanted were hard
to come by on Fortuniana. I didn’t think it would make that much difference,
even though they say roses do better on Fortuniana down here. Well, as it turns out, I really should have
gotten them on Fortuniana.

They have been growing rather pathetically since I planted
them in early January. Meanwhile, I have one Austin “the Shepherdess” which I
obtained on Fortuniania from Cool Roses. It was planted in late November (a few
months before) and is now about 6x the size of my Doc H roses and has bloomed a
ton by comparison.

I do admit that until then, I didn’t really think that the
root stock would make that big a difference. And I still think some varieties
do better than others down here regardless. But it has become blatantly clear
that fortuniana is pretty much the only way to grow roses here, if you are going
to put them in the ground. And not just because of nematodes, they just grow
BETTER on fort. (much better).

So I decided to replace these Doc H Austins with Fort
Austins from K&M which seems to now carry a large variety of Austins on
Fortuniana (yay!!!). The docs ones are in a prime location and I’m just not at
all happy with their current performance.

What I am wondering is if I can pull them out of the ground
and put them in pots. I’ve had some luck growing roses on the Doc in pots and I
really like the varieties I chose and would love to at least keep them growing that
way.

My concern would be the nematodes. If I pull them out of the
ground and put them in a pot I’m afraid I may be bringing up the nematodes with
them. And putting the nematodes in a confined space with the rose roots (aka a
pot) sounds disastrous to me.

Is there any way I can either wash off the nematodes
completely or maybe disinfect the soil without harming the live roots? Can I
add something to the soil perhaps that would help kill any nematodes living in
the pot? Would the heat alone be enough to kill them once they are planted in
pots? Would a good quality potting soil be enough to deter them or even kill
them (I know they like sandy soil)

Any advice would be grand.
Thanks.

Featured Answer

zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Article on controlling nematodes in potted plants
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/kill-nematodes-houseplants-25731.html

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Comments (7)

kublakan
8 years ago
Great question! I have my theory, but I'll wait to see what other's think.
michaelg
8 years ago
Aren't the nematodes actually inside the roots, thus the root-knots? But I understand roses on Huey are usually good for a few years in warm, sandy soil.
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kublakan
8 years ago
Roses on Dr. Huey may do okay for a year or two, but the damage begins as soon as the nematodes kick in. The best comparison I can make is that it's very much like the slow decline that one sees in roses with RRD.
floridarosez9 Morgan
8 years ago
I don't know, but what have you got to lose? It's my understanding nematodes "swim" through our sandy soil. If you pot them up in good potting mix with added manure, it at least would make it an inhospitable environment for them. All of my own-root antiques are planted in my own concoction of potting mix, kitty litter and horse manure. My first antiques were planted in 2001 and are still going strong. I didn't return any of the native sand to the planting hole.
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
8 years ago
I'll pot them up and hope for the best. I may leave a few in the ground. Gentle Hermione and Geoff Hamilton seem to be growing ok. But Boscobal, Molineux and Princess Alexandra Of Kent are struggling pretty badly so I'll pot those up for sure. I'm on the fence about Belle Story.
sharon2079
8 years ago
If you dig the rose up and the roots do not have knots on them, then you should be ok. If you have knots on them you may need to cut them off. Once you go to put them in a new pot you will need to make sure that it has plenty of organic material in it. Nematodes hate the organic stuff. They prefer sand..... So when you originally planted the roses if you had put in lotss of good organics you may not have nematodes. Make sure when you have them in the pots that the pot does not touch the ground. It needs to be raised because the nematodes can travel from the ground to the pot which will defeat your purpose.

On another note, I just posted that I am having a couple of my roses decline because I have this mat that is growing and choking out the roses. I really don't know what it is and haven't gotten any answers as of yet. Someone wanted me to post a picture, but I do not have a way to do that. I haven't seen anything like it before. It looks almost like roots but they are very very dense and not actually attached to any plant. I know that this mat thing was not there when I planted the rose there last fall. This mat thing is very aggressive. I think I am going to have to remove the bush in order to dig the mat out.
Good Luck on your roses.