This is a RANT!!!

RMV!!!

These three letters stand for Rose Mosaic Virus. Infected plants show a jaggered yellow line on the leaf that looks like this:

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]

This was Mr Loncoln just before it got shovel pruned .

A lot of people don't seem to worry about RMV but it makes me insane! It won't kill the plant but it does reduce its vigour and increases its susceptibility to disease. It can't be passed on from plant to plant easily. In fact the only documented mode of transmission is by root grafting when plants are grown closely together. The roots cross over and form a natural graft allowing the virus to pass from the infected plant to the non-infected plant. The guys in Florida (Malcolm Manners) proved this by spraying an infected plant with a round-up type herbicide and the infected plant next to it also died. There is some evidence to suggest that pruning equipment might also help spread the disease (so carry that jar of bleach with you as you prune). So how do your roses get it if it's not easy to catch? Invariably it begins with growers budding a previously uninfected rose bud onto an infected rootstock. Then from that point onwards a rose variety can become chronically infected. Why does it make me so well... it can be killed! It's not hard to kill! The folks in the U.S at Davis and Florida have been doing it for years systematically cleaning their roses and producing virus-indexed root stocks on which to graft their clean roses. It turns out this virus is heat sensitive and is killed off by a period of exposure to temperatures of 38 degrees for 28 days. This is from Malcom Manners himself who has very kindly provided me with the methodology and some background to how they achieve this. So why aren't we doing it here? Why do we put up with it? Roses have a bad enough name in general and maybe one of the reasons they are such poor garden specimens (in some cases) is because they are chronically infected with RMV!!! Most roses find it hard enough to deal with the different Australian climates without having to cope with chronic virus infection too. I think we should come up with a 'Rose Mark' which is a logo that growers can purchase and place on their tags to certify that their stock is RMV free and if it doesn't display this logo then we should not buy it. Hardware stores and chain stores buy large numbers of cheap roses but the fact is that a good percentage of these are infected with RMV and you can't tell that from a leafless bare rooted plant! It may not show up straight away... it could turn up a few years down the track and if you are living in a very hot climate then it may not show up at all (doesn't mean it isn't infected... just means it is infected at a level that makes detection difficult). I really think something needs to be done about this and more people should take offense that the growers knowingly or uncaringly (because it doesn't kill the rose ) force these substandard plants onto the market in such great numbers.

I get a lot of that Tas, I pick the leaves off

That's fine TheE... but the plant is still infected and it is still weaker because of it. If they are growing well with it just imagine what they'd be llike without it!

What should I spray them with Tas, I have the all rounder Yates product ??

Nothing can be applied to cure it TheE. Once they have it they have it for good. It's a virus not a fungi. That's why I'm dirty about it. The plants that develop it were sold to us that way (i.e. sick!) because the only way they 'catch it' is by being grafted onto an infected rootstock or grafting an infected bud onto a clean rootstock. That's why I'm dirty about it! We can't do a thing about it except build a thermal chamber that can sustain a temperature of 38 degree Celsius +- 1 degree for a period of 28 days!!! I don't know many gardeners who have one of them. And then the only way to be sure you've killed it is to take bud material from the plants that have just undergone thermal therapy and bud them onto clean (seedling) rootstocks! Anyone want to loan me $100K to start up a cleaning business here to kill RMV in Australia's roses?

I'm dirty today too I was selecting budwood and cutting material to send to a friend (Ladybird Roes) and when I cut a stem from Adelaide d'Orleans I found it on her too!!! This is a rose that I have wanted for ages and now, two years after I planted it I discover it had RMV all along. It was bought from a rose nursery with an extensive range of OGR that I buy a lot of roses from so I know for almost certain that any further Adelaide d'Orleans I buy off them will also probably be infected and if they use the same rootstock for all their stock then there is a good chance all their bloody roses have it! I was looking at a new HT I have called Grand Nord, a Delbard and noticed this one has it. It comes from the supplier of Delbards here in Oz and I contacted them and said your Grand Nord has RMV... they said please destroy it and we'll replace it... with what? Another infected Grand Nord.... These people give me the *censored*... research exists on how to deal with it yet they don't cos they are too tight and we, the lowly buyer, are meant to just accept the fact that some roses are chronically infected with RMV!!!

Will have to take a few pics of my ugly ones and post for Dr. Tas to give Thee some addyadvises

RMV in:

Adelaide d'Orleans:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Grand Nord:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Altissimo:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's hard to shovel prune a rose that has RMV and STILL makes lots of flowers like this:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Altissimo is more affected at the beginning of the season and as the weather warms up the virus becomes less prevalent and the symptoms become much harder to spot.

So RMV can be quite obvious and the at other times quite difficult to spot.

Must say I have never noticed. I will start watching out for it now.

IMO there is only three reasons to keep a plant that has RMV. The first is that the rose has sentimental value. If 'Eliza' developed RMV I would keep her no matter what. The second is that the rose is rare and virtually unobtainable anywhere. And the third is related to this... that it is a rose that you want to breed with but can't find anywhere because it is so rare. RMV is not passed on via pollen or eggs so seedlings are always considered clean.

Altissimo is a lovely Rose, may have to get it later this year