Inspectors at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture recently flagged an unusually high number of tea roses expressing rose mosaic disease. These roses were shipped in from out of state. If you plan to inventory this type of rose for the upcoming season, it is highly advised that you have conversations about this with your distributer and more importantly, obtain the required virus-free certifications. Rose mosaic disease is a complex of viruses that most commonly includes Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), and to a lesser extent Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) and Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV). Singularly or in combination, these viruses can all trigger mosaic symptoms.
Excerpts from NJ Department of Agriculture on the rose quarantine:
- Rose plants may be shipped onto the State of New Jersey only after they have been inspected during the growing season by a state inspector in the state in which they were grown at the time appropriate for symptom expression and found to be visibly free from virus diseases, especially viruses associated with rose mosaic disease.
- All shipments of rose plants entering the State of New Jersey must be accompanied by an official certificate or statement issued by the proper state official in the state of origin, certifying that the plants were inspected during the growing season at a time when symptoms would be apparent and found visibly free of plant viruses.
