Rose Rosette and trading cuttings

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I googled for a distribution map of rose rosette disease (RRD) and wonder what should we do when we trade cuttings so we won't distribute RRD to areas that haven't been affected. Please share your thoughts. Helen

Here is the map downloaded today, and here is the link to the interactive map .

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nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska

6 years ago

Excellent idea Helen, and I'll be interested to hear what people have to suggest. There have been several strategies tried in various places, and looking at the map none of them have been successful enough. California I know won't accept plant material from outside the state without a phytosanitary certificate, and presumably that kept the RRD curse out for a long time, but sadly that no longer seems to be the case. I have only sent cuttings from roses that I know to be free of RRD symptoms (I've never had any in my yard but I still check), and only send them to people that know I know what to look for. Since RRD is in the state of Nebraska though, I can't recognize or guarantee that there are none of the mites present that haven't caused symptoms in my roses yet. You'd think that looking at the map that the states like ND/SD, Montana, and Minnesota are doing something right to keep RRD out, but given that these states are all zone 4 and beyond it's more likely that few enough people grow roses to create the conditions from which it's easily spread.

Speaking of the map, I wonder if the massively green areas are hotbeds of RRD transmission or just better at recognizing and reporting it. Iowa is our neighbor to the east and it's nearly solid green in the zone 5 parts of the state, where Nebraska is only sparsely dotted and I don't see any dots in Omaha where I know of some cases when friends have found it. I wonder if the humidity east of the Mississippi has anything to do with the prevalence patterns, such as along the Ohio River, or if it's more in the reporting or rose growing habits of people in the various regions. It's hard to imagine that RRD respects the state dividing line (for instance) between Ohio, Indiana and WV vs. Kentucky, or the southeast corner of Utah vs. Colorado quite that cleanly.

Useful if very scary question as well as map.
Cynthia

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Comments (6)

rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)
6 years ago
I’m bemused that one might be on a more heightened alert when sending a cutting to someone in a rrd-free area, than when sending a cutting to someone living in a region where rrd has been reported.
bayarea_girl_z10a_ca thanked rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)
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roseseek
6 years ago
Even more bemusing is how Weeks was not sending roses from their field where the RRD was found to states where no RRD previously existed, but those states which already HAD infections were cleared to receive the "cleared stock" from those infected fields. If it's good enough for the rose producers...
bayarea_girl_z10a_ca thanked roseseek
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
6 years ago
I don't think the purpose of Helen's question or my own musings was to suggest that we should only be careful about sending cuttings to RRD free areas, but not worry about sending potentially infected cuttings to counties that are already green. Kim's comment very clearly points out the absurdity of that. People in the green counties of Iowa don't want RRD in their yards any more than the folks in (apparently) unaffected counties of Minnesota. It's more the question of how can any of us be sure we're not sending the mites when we share cuttings among fellow GW members?

We all hopefully are checking our own roses for signs of infection and dealing with it as promptly as possible, but there presumably is a chance that we've missed a potential infection, in the same way you might unknowingly send your child to school with a stomach virus that hasn't affected them actively yet. What's the incubation period for the RRD virus? If we were to make cuttings and set them aside for a short period, would that help in any way? I don't know how long the viability of the cuttings would last in that kind of scenario, since it might defeat the purpose of sharing the cuttings in the first place. I would think that any treatment of the cuttings that would defeat the mites would already be used on living roses if it were effective, or it would be damaging enough to the cuttings to make the process futile.

As far as I know, the only strategies to use when sending cuttings is to practice good hygiene in roses and the cutting process, and to use both common sense and courtesy in sending rose material (both of which were clearly lacking in the Weeks staff). I'm just interested if the RRD experts have any additional strategies to suggest.

Cynthia
bayarea_girl_z10a_ca thanked nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
MiGreenThumb (Z5b S.Michigan/Sunset 41) Elevation: 1091 feet
6 years ago
That map is inaccurate for years-
I lost a rose to RRD back in approximately 2005.
I'm in southern Michigan.
Anywhere you go you can easily find feral multiflora infected with it.

Steven
bayarea_girl_z10a_ca thanked MiGreenThumb (Z5b S.Michigan/Sunset 41) Elevation: 1091 feet
roseseek
6 years ago
Or, stands of multiflora where there are sufficient rains to support them. I guess that's one more benefit to living in drought ravaged, arid Central to Southern California. There isn't anything "feral" to support the infection, so if it exists, it's due to someone doing something stupid.
bayarea_girl_z10a_ca thanked roseseek