First of all, are you sure it's RRD? Pictures would have been helpful. Also, sometimes if it's confined to only one cane you can save the rose by just cutting off that one cane and disposing of it inside a trash bag or burning it. If the other roses have no symptoms there's no reason to take them out. It would also be nice to know what zone you're in. Pictures would be really important if you're not absolutely sure that it's rose rosette disease.

If you dig it up, you don't need to remove the dirt. You should make sure you get all the roots. The virus can't live in the soil after 6 days.

Yes, pictures would be helpful. Remember that herbicide damage (for instance, from Round-up spray) often looks a lot like RRD. That is why we usually show pics--so several sharp eyes can examine the rose.

Hi took these today. I have not used any herbicide around it.

I am in zone 7 by some maps, 6b by others. I thought it might be a response to manure tea from early Sept. Then I saw its the whole stem, not on the cane yet. It just gets creepier and creepier. makes me sad.

This is puzzling because it doesn't have the typical "witches broom" configuration of RRD. Does this rose usually have new red canes? I think I can even see a bud in one of the pictures, which you don't usually see on the sections that are affected by RRD. If it were me I'd cut out all the questionable parts of the bush and dispose of them in the trash, and then wait and see what happens to the bush. I'm no expert but hopefully you'll have more answers, and in the meantime don't assume that you have to take out this bush or any of the ones around them. It may even be just a new cane that grew from your fertilizing earlier.

It is rose rosette with the sometimes typical slow emergence of chlorophyll.

Buds DO happen on RRD stems, often they are typified by lack of major parts of the bud, often the receptacle is missing, sometimes petals are absent, and sometimes there are multiple layers of sepals.

Even roses that have red growth on newest canes have that growth turning green as it ages. Except when RRD is involved.

Your second photo shows all sorts of aberrant growth with the leaves as well as really short internodal distances out on the stems emerging from the red cane.

Thanks for the photographs, they are really ugly and you did right to see that something is seriously wrong.

Ann

Rose Rosette e-book

Thank you very much. I could not download the e-book. Couldnt get server.

Thanks for the additional information about RRD, Ann. With the absence of the witches broom I wasn't sure, but you're right that the red color should have been a warning sign.

I'm sorry about your rose Mary. Will add just one thing. There is no need to remove soil. RRD does not persist in the dirt. Just try to remove all of your roots.

Will RRV survive in dead roots? Just curious... I mean, do we always have to dig up roots? Can we cut the rose down good, paint glyphosate (active ingredient of roundup) on the fresh stem, let the roots absorb it and then the roots will be dead shortly thereafter. Will the virus die soon after that?

The virus, unless it was in the graft, comes onto the foliage through mites. It works its way down the cane to the bud union, or roots in that case. No I just got rid of the whole thing, and am still looking for the smaller roots. I really dont think the hairy roots are that much to worry about, but its hard to get all the roots. In my case it was not in the grafted canes yet. If it is an old rose, you might want to replace soil anyway. The concern about roots might be that multiflora can grow from a small root, and many grafted roses in the NE and Canada are on multiflora. Every body is trying to go own root as much as possible because of the infection in MF.

Several years ago I was asked to and I sent RRD sick roses across state lines to Arkansas with full official gov't permits.

It was important that the plants arrive with the cell contents in tact. As I collected sick roses, I froze them in my refrigerator. As the collection was ready to send, it was important that it be transported frozen...in a thick walled cooler with dry ice. (Which meant another level of complexity in doing the shipment.)

From that, you might want to assume that that sort of protocol is needed to make sure that the virus persists in a state that it can still work with PCR replication for further tests.

Braverichard, I'm not trying to disagree with anyone here. Just relaying what I do. With a rose thats been in the ground for awhile for me complete root removal is impossible. I get what I can and thats it. Replace my soil. It's usually the following year before I can replant here anyway. In twenty years I have not had a problem. I'm all own root here now. When I did have grafted roses the root stock never came back.

I get it Patty, and yes that was why I asked the question - it is impossible or rather very difficult to get to most roots, I've seen roses that have been in the ground for just one year put down some incredible roots. So that's why I asked the question on killing the roots instead of taking them out, will the virus survive if the roots have been killed by a chemical?

The Round up can leave the roots and cause problems with the next plant planted and/or nearby plants.