Are these roses infected by virus, or other problems like particular element deficiency? Some but not all shoots on the same plant are distorted.
I have seen something very similar both in the Santa Clarita Valley, Southern California and here in my Santa Maria, CA garden. Many years ago, I had a shoot on the old HT, Careless Love (striped sport of Radiance) which did very much what your shoot has. I’d never heard of RRD in those years and I knew no herbicides had been used. I propagated it and it grew with that growth and the oddly rosette flowers for a few years before it died. This year, two of the longer shoots on a potted Mel’s Heritage grew into long, weedy grasses I hadn’t taken care of and they began producing this type of growth. We don’t have RRD nor Chilli Thrips in this area. Thankfully, the climate and plant life don’t support either.
150+ years ago, when settlers began proliferating this valley, they wrote, complaining about the endless sand, ever-present wind and legions of spider mites. All this time later and none of that has changed. We’ve finally received our “summer heat”, with temps hitting the high eighties to low nineties F for several hours daily, then dropping back into more of the “normal” range for several days then more bursts of “summer”. The winds have been more oppressive than usual and water stress is rampant. So, at least for my plant symptoms, I’m betting its more the effects of spider mites or thrips. There is no webbing, but the effects are very much the effects they usually produce.
Thanks for your answer. I remember that I have found very similar symptom on a shoot of one of my shrub roses. That time I suspected that it was infected by something like Phytoplasma (which was found in my area on some wooden plants like Zizipus jujube and Paulownia sp. I cut off the branch with that shoot, and the plant do not produce that type of growth in the following three years.
“Rosette” diseases caused by Phytoplasma is not rare in my area. Infected plants showed profusion of tiny shoots like in RRD. However my plants seems not, with only distorted leaves, and Phytoplasma diseased seems not reported on roses. Anyway I have to keep one eye on this phenomenon if it spreads.
I’ve had some narrow leaves and similar distortion in the greenhouse this summer (some varieties had it more) and after I added some soluble trace elements it resolved. I wonder if these symptoms may be due to a trace element deficiency, at least in some instances. Outside in the past I’ve had something that looked similar I think from some 2,4D herbicide on the lawn nearby and then the roses grew out of it. I think it became volatilized and the gas hung around the rose plants for awhile because it was sprayed on a hot day.
Thanks for sharing your experience. In my greenhouse all “infected” plants are Chinas and Teas. They might be affected by chemicals like herbicides because all infected ones are close to the window of the greenhouse and very vigorous growing (which means very tender tissues), and normal and distorted shoots present on one plant. What I only hope is that that’s not caused by virus because the potential vectors like thrips are crazy in the greenhouse and almost unable to control, and all my seedlings are in this greenhouse.
I did a cpnsult on a rose garden.The plant looked similar to these pictures I couldn’t figure it out although I new is wasn’t RRD.Sent plant pieces to U Mass plant pathology
Report came back no pathology knowing it wasnt a virus I sugested tring the bush back and use fish emulsion to provide micro nutrients.T he bush looks better
