Instead of working on my Garden Bloggers' Book Club post, today finds me on the brink of despair. I've found Hosta Virus X (HVX) on more of my Hostas. Last summer I posted about how my new favorite Hosta, 'Striptease' had developed symptoms and needed to be destroyed. Now, I've found symptoms in the above unnamed Hosta and in my current favorite Hosta, 'Maui Buttercups.' Here is how it looked during happier times. Here's the infected leaf.
See the dark green blotch along the veining? Notice the distortion of the leaf texture? Those are symptoms of this vexing disease. It appears on gold or light colored leaves or parts of leaves. It is thought to be spread by sap via dirty pruners or shovels. Any remaining infected roots can also transmit the virus to a new Hosta planted where a diseased plant was removed. Allegedly, once the diseased roots have decomposed, there's no threat to a new Hosta planted in the same spot. There is no cure for HVX. Removal of diseased plants and proper sanitation are the only means of prevention in other plants.After last year's discovery of HVX, I was very leery of getting any more Hostas. I decided to order this 'Risky Business' only after assurances that the nursery involved did not have any problems with HVX.
This looks an awful lot like a virus symptom. Fortunately, I got a guarantee with this plant.
But then I start to wonder, am I getting paranoid? Do I see disease in every shading on a leaf? What about this leaf on 'Sweet Home Chicago'?
How about this on 'Olive Baily Langdon'?
I'm going to have to order some HVX ImmunoStrips, which is a rapid test for determining whether a plant is infected with HVX. This may be the only way to save some Hostas and my sanity.For more information about the disease, please refer to the following articles:
"Hosta Virus X" by Josh Spece
"Hosta Virus X: A new threat to one of our favorite shade perennials" by Terry L. Yockey
"Hosta Virus X" by Megan Kennelly
"Hosta Virus X" Kemper Center Problem Categories
31 comments:
I really hope you get control and eradicate the virus!
Hmmmmm I have many hostas. I sure hope I don't have this develop in my garden. I don't really know what to look for. I will have to read the articles. I hope you don't have any more virus show up.
See, this is why I love garden blogs. I had never heard of this disease, but now will be on the lookout for it.
I think my problem is more bugs and slugs. But I'm looking first thing in the morning!
Robin
Gardening Examiner
No hostas here, so this is new to me. I hope you get it figured out soon. That is so frustrating when a favorite plant is victimized, and you're not sure what to do.
Oh no! It's hard to tell sometimes what is diseased and what is just naturally colored differently sometimes. I hope that this problem can be fixed. Is the disease spred through the whole plant or could you just pluck infected leaves off? I guess I should read up on this, I'm getting some more hostas in a couple of days.
Is there a cure for that other than eliminating the plant? It's not something that any hosta lover wants to see.
Hi, TC, thanks for visiting. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those problems that's going to need constant vigilence.
Lisa - the most obvious symptom is dark green "bleeding" effect on the gold part of the leaf along the veins.
Robin - I can deal with bugs & slugs, they usually won't kill a Hosta, but this is devastating.
Pam - here's a good reason to be glad you can't grow Hostas. It's on the scale of your Agave bug problem, as most of the Hostas in the garden are at risk.
Cinj - this is a systemic problem. Cutting off the symptomatic parts will not get rid of the disease.
Hi, Dave - at this point there is no cure. It's dig it up & throw it in the trash. Maybe someday scientists will come up with an inoculant, but so far, nothing.
Great information MMD. I've never heard of this disease, but I will be on the lookout for it from now on. I love my hostas, they are one of my favorite shade plants. I hope your other plants are okay.
Thanks for the information. I had heard that there was a virus, but had no idea what the symptoms looked like. I am going out to check all my hosta's tomorrow. Hopefully they are OK. The hosta's are the workhorse of any shade garden, and this is sad news.
Jen
Hi MMD,
I had no clue about hosta diseases before this, and in fact, the few hostas that were here when we bought the house, we traded for Ostrich Plume Ferns, so we have none at this point.
That does look like a sad thing to happen to your plants! I hope you can find a workable solution to the problem without resorting to bringing in Daleks! :-)
Oh No!
I have never heard of this before.
Hope the ImmunoStrips work and I hope you find that not many of your hostas (if any?) have a virus.
Karen
An Artists Garden
As Robin said, this is a good example of why one should read garden blogs(as if I needed an excuse!) I haven't heard of this either, but will start looking at my plants a little more closely. What a shame if you lose all those pretty hostas. I would say get the strips before you do anything. Good luck!
For a moment I thought I had popped over to a Dalek blog. ;-)
This virus is not a good thing to have, poor hostas! Hope you get this virus beat soon. Gardening is a lot of fun but not when this sort of thing happens. X-terminate, X-terminate!!!
mmd,
I am so sorry, I understand completely....I have the pesky phlox bug, but if I wanted to I could spray a horrible insecticide, I don't want to! The no cure, no treatment but x-ter-mi-nate is harsh.
I had read about the virus and for that reason wouldn't buy any of the hosta on sale at big box stores.
Good luck.
I had never heard of this either, MMD. Now you've made me want to go out and check every hosta leaf in my garden! The last couple hostas you show look fine to me. I would definitely get the immunostrips before you do anything too drastic. I hope you don't have to destroy any more of these!
This must be very frustrating for you. I read about it a few years ago on a hosta forum and haven't purchased a new hosta since (that's how fearful I am). Apparently there is more of the virus in the trade than I ever imagined.
Looking at your photos, I couldn't begin to tell what might be virus and what is just coloration change.
Good idea bringing this to gardener's attention so they can take precautions.
Marnie
"Constant vigilance" reminds me of the ubiquitous Japanese beetle!
Good luck!
My hosta days are all in the past, MMD, but after 9 years in Austin I haven't forgotten how much I loved all my big-leaved babies- this disease sounds awful and you have my sympathy. At least there's a test so you don't have to destroy your plants without cause.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
MMD, I feel so badly for you! However, I'm very thankful you've done the research and can provide information for the rest of us (me). I have a LOT of hosta plants and need to read about this virus. I hope you don't detect further infestation. Keep us posted.
MMD, Immuno strips sound like a capital idea for sorting this out and saving your sanity. Here's hoping your other suspect hostas aren't infected. You've got some nice specimens. It would be sad to lose more of them.
So many Hostas are grown by tissue culture these days. I'm wondering if the Hostas that were hybridized the old fashioned way are susceptible to this disease.
Your Blog is fantastic but your template hurts the eye....
I just love blogs on gardening and on animals and nature....
Perennial Gardener - for as widespread as this problem has become, I can't believe how unknown it still is. The more gardeners who know about it & ask about it at their local garden centers, the better the chances of the disease being eradicated.
Muddy Boot Dreams - there are some good images on the web of what diseased foliage looks like. I hope you don't find any.
IVG - if the Daleks would help, I'd bring them in! You may as well not get any Hostas til this thing blows over. I like them too much to give in yet.
Karen/Artist's Garden - thanks for your good wishes. Spread the word to gardeners in your area who have Hostas, even though I haven't heard of the virus making its appearance in the UK, you never know.
Beckie - I ordered the strips this morning. Regular leaf checks are a good idea, especially at this point in the season, when the symptoms manifest themselves.
Yolanda Elizabet - I guess I have Dr. Who on the brain. I have been having my disease problems this year. I vow to do more fun posts for a while.
Gail - diseased Hosta can be found at nurseries & garden centers too. With some Hostas, such as 'Striptease', nearly all of the stock is infected. It makes it very difficult to buy any new Hostas.
Rose - sometimes the sypmtoms are very subtle, so I am going to rely on the strips. They should be here in a couple of days.
Roses & Lilacs - there are some cultivars that appear to be immune, otherwise it seems that the best course is to buy from specialty Hosta nurseries that are aware of the problem & test all their plants.
Annie - you know how indispensible these plants are in the shade. I do hope I'm only overreacting, but I doubt it.
Shady - you have such a great collection, I hope you don't have HVX silently spreading through them.
Garden Girl - the worst part of this whole fiasco is that I started going a little Hosta crazy only within the last 5 years. It would be rather expensive to have to replace them.
Catherine/My Garden Travels - tissue culture is one means of spreading the virus, but it is also spread mechanically through division of infected plants. One of the most seriously affected Hostas is 'Gold Standard,' which has been around for a long time & was hybridized the old fashioned way.
Hi, Anuj - sorry about your eyes. Is it the tulip wallpaper, or the text colors?
I hope you can save your hostas; they are lovely.
I found out about the hosta virus a few years ago and posted about it. The best advice I was given was to avoid buying hostas from any big box store or even a garden center where they don’t know about this disease and aren’t willing to destroy infected plants. Very helpful post with pictures. I hope you can get control of it in your shady garden!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
This virus is so awful. Thanks for the links as they helped me. I knew to throw the plant away but not too sterilize my shovel. Duh! I will add bleach to my garden as I have had a few infected hostas, mainly ones bought on sale at Rural King. Ah, the discount store. Not such a discount afterall.
Hi, Terra Hagen, thanks for your good wishes.
Carol - I wished I had heard the advice about not buying from garden centers that aren't familiar with the problem. Live & learn, or as my dad says, I learned a lesson from the school of hard knocks.
Tina - you get what you pay for? Sterilizing pruners is pretty much second nature, but you've got to put some thought into sterilizing the shovel. Guess I should sharpen it at the same time, too.
Oh, this sounds awful. I love hostas for those cool, shady spots and wish I could grow them down here in Texas. At least with the test you won't have to second-guess yourself.
*crosses fingers for your hostas*
Lori - I'm crossing my fingers too! I hope I'm a hypochondriac by proxy here.
You posted a link to my HVX article and thought I'd reply.
Honestly, I don't think any of the hostas you show have HVX...including your original 'Striptease'.
'Striptease' often gets that muddy coloration in the center of the leaf. If you look back to my article, there are pictures of infected 'Striptease'. The symptomatic markings are very distinctive compared to the muddy coloration of your picture.
Your unknown plant looks like 'Gold Standard'. Again, see the 'Gold Standard' pictures in my article. 'Gold Standard' is the parent of 'Striptease' and can also develop muddy coloration as it goes through its typical color changes. The irregular dark margin is typical for most variegated hostas.
The dark stripe in 'Maui Buttercups' is just a random genetic aberration. Notice how it is between the veins. HVX markings look as if dye was injected into the vein and then bleeds out into the surrounding tissue.
Same deal with 'Risky Business'. The white center is often lightly flecked with green. In the pictured leaf, there just happens to be a larger green streak...between the veins.
'Olive Baily Langdon' and 'Sweet Home Chicago' (which I don't think is SHC) just show normal margin irregularity.
I hope you'll post the test results once your strips arrive.
HVX is distributed world wide, including the UK.
Bottom line...HVX should not be the end of everyone's hosta fun! Educate yourself of the symptoms and proper handling procedures and buy from reputable HOSTA growers. I would avoid box stores completely and even suggest you be cautious of general garden centers, unless you can confirm where their stock came from. If it came from over seas, forget it. If the plants came from a US tissue culture lab, you should be fine. All of the major TC labs test their plants before culturing them. Reputable growers do all they can to sell clean plants, but will also make things right if something does slip through.
Josh - thanks so much for your input! I've tested only 2 of my plants so far & no HVX. I really do hope I'm an HVX hypochondriac. I will do a post as soon as I finish my testing. I'm feeling so much better now.
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