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annececilia

Bummer! Crown Gall!

AnneCecilia z5 MI
14 years ago

I have never had a case of crown gall before, but there is no mistaking it when you see it, I guess. Out pruning this morning, I got around to a 9 year old plant of "Odense City" - a real beauty of a small shrub in a rich creamy yellow color. This rose has been crown hardy for me with some surviving cane here in zone 4 (in spite of it being rated to zone 6 on HMF.) Before I even made my first cut, I could see the galls all over at the base of the rose. Probably formed last season, the leaves at the base were so dense that I never noticed it. I just spent an hour digging it up and removing the soil around it. Man, was that hard work - and what a hole in the garden I have now!! I am really distressed and even though I took a lot of the soil I'm hesitant to put a new rose in that spot although the whole garden plan will be out of balance without one there. According to the research I've just done, the bacteria can remain in the soil for 10 years. Oh pooh and bother! :>(

Comments (11)

  • karenforroses
    14 years ago

    Oh Anne, I know just how you feel - like when I had to dig out my beloved Constance Spry when RMV had weakened her to the point of being non-productive. I have removed the soil from the area where I've removed a rose with crown gall, replaced it with fresh soil, and had the new rose do just fine.
    So sorry about Odense - you must treat yourself to a rose you've wanted for a long time!

  • michaelg
    14 years ago

    Don't hesitate to replant there. The bacteria are widely distributed in the environment anyway. Avoid pruning the roots before planting anywhere in the garden. Be alert for aerial galls that may form on canes as the result of pruning last year or this spring. Disinfect pruners with Lysol.

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    14 years ago

    I thought the gall was always in the soil, and it would infect the rose through an injury - from pruning, storm damage, or critters (big and small) around the rose.

    Sammy

  • henryinct
    14 years ago

    My experience is that if your roses are planted deep in good composty soil you can have a lot of gall and not know it. The easiest thing is to suspect gall if a strong performing rose goes into decline. Dig carefully at the base and you very likely will find a gall wrapped around the graft and/or the cane close to the surface but further down of course depending on how much you mulch. I have found them as big as baseballs. What to do? I cut them off as completely as possible without disturbing the rose and the rose generally comes right back almost as if nothing had happened. You must then check the rose from then on because the gall will come back but they are very slow growing. Generally it is also to good to look for gall on a regular basis when you happen to be poking around or whatever. So far I have never lost a rose to gall that I know of and some of my best roses have had to be rescued from gall.

  • karl_bapst_rosenut
    14 years ago

    I've had roses in severe decline fron crown gall. In the majority of cases I've been able to save them.
    I dig them up so surgery is easier. On a newspaper or a plastic sheet I remove the gall carefull cutting away a thin portion of tissue where it was attached. I treat the wound with Neosporin or a generic antibacterial ointment, (crown gall is a bacteria, isn't it)?
    If any gall pieces have come off in the soil while removing the bush, I put a couple of cups of bleach in five gallons of water and drench the soil where it was planted. I then replant or pot the bush to observe it's recovery. The bushes treated this way have done well. I've never had gall recurrance on them. Care must be taken to avoid mechanical damage to the canes, roots, or graft, especially where the graft is buried. Insect bites, vole nibbling. or cultivator damage can also be areas of bacteria entry.
    Yes the bacteria is prevalent in the soil. My bleach drenching just gives the plant time to heal a little before the bacteria come back to the area.

  • henryinct
    14 years ago

    It is easy to take off a gall. You can reach down with your hands and break most of it off with your fingers and use a pairing knife to trim off anything that is left. When I suspect there is a gall I just reach down with my hand and feel around for it. You will know immediately when you find one.

  • michaelg
    14 years ago

    But when you break off a gall you would be shedding the bacteria into the soil.

  • henryinct
    14 years ago

    Michael. Trust me it doesn't matter. Gall is a very minor problem hardly even worth thinking about. It is naturally occurring and very slow growing. Well established roses are barely fazed by it but you should know when to suspect it and how to look for it. When you occasionally find a big one that has noticeably affected the rose pinch it off and the rose will snap back. You cannot dig up well established roses just to cut off a gall. One more thing. Sometimes on a big rose where you have separate parts but all still attached you will see most of it thriving but one part failing. Chances are that part has a gall.

  • susan4952
    14 years ago

    So gross looking!

  • jim_w_ny
    14 years ago

    Interesting!

    Now I'll be looking down under for galls on my several roses that are just sitting there!

  • AnneCecilia z5 MI
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you everyone for your input on this - I needed more info than the quick search I made yesterday after my discovery and you all came through for me as I knew you would. I will definitely re-plant a rose in that spot - and keep an eye out so I can try the 'remove the gall and save the rose' techniques if it becomes necessary in future. Poor Odense City was just too far gone to save, I think, and I feel that I did the right thing in disposing of it. I see that Hortico sells it, so I can replace it next year if I choose.
    From now on when I water and fuss over the roses during the year I'll be checking the base of the canes, too! Live and learn.

    Anne