| Author | Message | ||
     Dmaivn Senior Member Username: Dmaivn Post Number: 3029 Registered: 07-2003  Rating: N/A |
Brownthumbs, many US hobbyists do tissue culture in the kitchen using kits from US companies. I think the set up is less than $1000. The trouble is time if we ask professional rose growers to do it. But I wonder if some Aussies may get into this hobby. I know Aussie culture is different. People prefer outdoor activities or sit back to watch footy rather than doing anything that is technical as their main hobby in life. If some people here would do this as a hobby then we would have a stock free of viruses. Another option is to apply for a license to import from the US. It will take a couple of years for the roses to adapt to Australian climate. The have a project there to produce stock free of mosaic viruses. Perhaps you might like to try this and get a chance to slap "virus free" label on your roses? I think it would not cost much to import budwoods, the only hassle is to get permission from the Australian Quarantine. | ||
| Brownthumbs Intermediate Member Username: Brownthumbs Post Number: 143 Registered: 01-2008 Rating: N/A |
Sorry Dao...boat has well and truly departed on the mosaic front. I think I've said it in previous posts that I've had "virus free stock" shipped in from the east before...guess what...mosaic...i've had stock plants from lots of different growers sent over before....guess what....mosaic. Remember that seccy's and knives etc are the vectors here...even if you did wind up with virus free plants...how long do you reckon they would remain uninfected in the average garden? There are certainly things that growers can do to bring the count down to an acceptable level but I doubt many of them do. As far as t/c goes....good luck....maybe buy some stuff off a lab first and see if you can get it to grow before you try to produce it...it's working backwards I know but may save your sanity and your kids inheritance. My advice...for what it's worth...is to select your rootstock wisely ie keep throwing out your worst effected plants and to also choose your budwood wisely. If you take care with these two things alone (and maybe better hygene whilst budding) you will find much cleaner plants comming through in no time. | ||
| Dmaivn Senior Member Username: Dmaivn Post Number: 3027 Registered: 07-2003 Rating: N/A |
Recently I notice that tissue culture has become a cheap hobby for those who have time to spare. Equipment fromlabs get discarded and sold on Ebay for cheap. You can also set up your own simple kitchen/garage type of setup to do tissue culture using chemical kits that could be ordered from the US. Rose mosaic could be eliminated by tissue culture. It is not perfect but there will be a high percentage of offsprings without the virus. Heat treatment is also another process but that could be a bit expensive and time consuming. I wonder if a rose nursery sets up its own collection of roses that is guaranteed to be virus free, it could lift its profile and better its sales. It is clearly that rose mosaic virus is rampant in Australia as it keeps showing up in our backyards. In the US they have an initiative to supply stocks free of virus, I suppose importing them is another issue. The roses would need time to adapt to Australian climate too. I know this market is too small for roses to be taken seriously like the vines and apples. But it is now possible for people to do it as labour of love rather than commercial exploit. |
