Do you know that cancer can also attack plants? Yes, seriously! When I bought this rose plant from a nursery, again I didn't really pay attention to the lump at the tree base. I wouldn't have thought that it was actually a kind of cancer that had attacked the plant! I bet you wouldn't have guessed that too when you gazed it for the first time, am I right?Well, if it hadn't been for the gardening program I watched on TV, I wouldn't have known this. And I would still think that it's just part of the dirt.
So, what is it actually and what causes it? This is one of the diseases commonly found in rose plants. It's called Crown Galls. According to the experts, it is caused by excessive fertilizing. Many Rose Farmers over-fertilize their rose plants to boost the growth, so that they can harvest faster. This is not uncommon case in rose nurseries. From my research recently I found that this disease is caused by a soil-inhabiting bacterium called agrobacterium tumefaciens that infects many ornamental plants in the home garden.
The symptons are galls, or swelling at the base of the stem. The galls are light green and nearly white when young, and will darken and become woody as they age. It is said that the galls will disrupt the flow of water and nutrients from the roots up to the stem and thus, weakening and stunting the growth of the top of the plant.
For prevention and treatment, we have to be careful when buying rose plants, make sure to choose a crown-gall-free rose plants because once it's infected than there's no remedy. Also be careful not to cause any injury to the roots or crown during planting or cultivating because bateria can infect through the fresh wound. Discard the soil from an infected plant and disinfect the pruning tools and pots.
Happy gardening!
