I have several rose bushes with similar appearance. Not sure if due to end of growth season, bugs, fungus or needs fertilizing in the spring. Treat now or in spring or dig up and replace in spring? Thank you

Welcome to the site!

Moving your question to the Rose Forum.

Looks like RRD to me... If confirmed you need to remove those roses.

Rose Rosette Disease (RRD) is a viral disease that affects roses. It is caused by the Rose Rosette Virus (RRV), which is transmitted by eriophyid mites. RRD primarily affects wild roses (such as multiflora rose) and various cultivated rose species, including hybrid tea roses, floribunda roses, and shrub roses.

Symptoms of Rose Rosette Disease include:

Abnormal growth: Infected plants often exhibit abnormal red or purple growth, often referred to as "witches' broom" or "rosette" growth. This growth is characterized by the development of multiple small branches or shoots emerging from the same point, giving the plant a clustered, deformed appearance.

Red discoloration: Leaves, stems, and flowers may display a reddish or purplish discoloration, which is a common characteristic of RRD-infected plants.

Deformed flowers: Flowers on infected plants can be distorted, smaller than normal, and may have an excessive number of petals.

Excessive thorns: Some infected plants may develop an unusually high number of thorns.

Stunted growth: Overall growth of the plant is stunted, and it may not produce blooms as profusely as healthy roses.

There is no cure for Rose Rosette Disease, and once a plant is infected, it typically dies within a few years. The best method for managing RRD is prevention. If you suspect your roses are infected, it's crucial to remove and destroy the infected plant, including the roots, to prevent the disease from spreading to nearby roses. Additionally, controlling the population of eriophyid mites, which spread the virus, can help reduce the risk of RRD.

I agree with the RRD diagnosis.

Round-up drift contamination can also produce growth that looks like this.

Looks like RRD to me, too.

One more to agree with diagnosis of RRD. So sorry to tell you this, but, it will infect other roses and they need to be completely removed and destroyed, not composted or let lying around in the open air.

Agree with RRD also.

RRD is caused by a mite, so when you dig up the bush, do so gently, and then bag it as best you can.

The pictures are heartbreaking.

Many thanks! Sad news but good to know

Ktudes said: Many thanks! Sad news but good to know

Also, if you decide to replant roses in the areas your infected plants were, you should replace the soil in a broad/deep area around the former root zones. This is a two-fold rationale: 1. The existing soil may be contaminated with the RRD mites. 2. In general, when planting a new rose in a previously planted (with a rose) zone, you should replace the soil. This is because there are old nematodes from the previous rose in the soil that can potentially damage or hinder the new rose roots, causing the new rose to suffer from 'Rose Replant Disease'. Additionally that old soil will presumably have been depleted of nutrients by the previous occupant. Soil replacement is time consuming, heavy work, but it is worth it, if you want your new rose(s) to thrive.

It could perhaps be Spring Dwarf Disease?

I have been emphatically told by a rose expert that if there isn't super thorny growth present, it isn't RRD. He attended a national workshop on the subject looking at examples up close. The only way to know for sure is to send a sample in a plastic bag to an agricultural lab that tests the plant samples for it. Some university agricultural departments do this.

reh0622 said: It could perhaps be Spring Dwarf Disease?

Well it's fall so not likely as SDD affects emerging leaves in the spring and symptoms disappear later in the season..
https://www.marinrose.org/care...

The images are quite blurry since they don't enlarge so it's hard to see if there is thorny growth but from what can be seen, I agree with everyone else.

Calif_Sue said: Well it's fall so not likely as SDD affects emerging leaves in the spring and symptoms disappear later in the season..
https://www.marinrose.org/care...

The images are quite blurry since they don't enlarge so it's hard to see if there is thorny growth but from what can be seen, I agree with everyone else.

Regardless of what disease it is (I also think it's RRD), the plants need to be dug up (with protection), discarded, and the soil changed out in that location if subsequent roses are to be planted there. There is no hope of turning things around or saving.