Noooooo!

[Kas]

After your comments about how El Nino can hide the symptoms of HVX I decided to use one of my last two agdia strips to test it. It popped positive! I bought it from the Boyz in 2004 and it still looks ok. Just a bit sun fried on the ends, but that is another story. I am not going to dig it yet. I just planted it in the ground for the first time, so that is a plus, but what a bummer. This is my first case. I have one more strip left and now I am wondering if I should test some of the ones that were in nearby pots. I am certain it arrived at my house like this since I haven't had any symptoms in other hostas and don't ever cut scapes or anything like that. Ugh. I will take a pic of some of the other leaves that have a kind of viridecence (spell?) going on in the white parts of the leaf. I thought that was weird as well. Boo hoo!

Kas

[Chris_W]

Hi Kas,

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Yes, El Nino and quite a few other plants can go for years and never show any symptoms. We first purchased El Nino in 2003 and plants from that batch tested negative. The next two batches received in 2004 and 2005 tested positive so we warned people about it, pitched the plants we had left and stopped selling it. We finally have a clean batch again so will start selling it in 2010. Sad that it took us that long to get clean stock of it...

The edges can turn misted/bluish in pots or from too much heat/sun. In the ground they won't do that. Its relative, Blue Ivory, can do the same thing, and it isn't a symptom.

I think if people started testing all of the plants in their collections they would have some surprises like this. When we started testing everything here in 2005 there were a couple of surprises here too, which is how we learned that El Nino can go without showing symptoms

[Kas]

I called Andi (Doublemom2) and she said she bought it in 2004, too. But hers has been all around her garden. Mine has been in a pot until two months ago. I just hope nothing else has been infected. The green thing makes sense, then. It was in the 100's here a couple of weeks ago while we were out of town , of course! And it is planted in the sun now because it is under a new little tree. I only have one more test strip and can't remember what I sent to Ben Lockhart that came back negative. I also can't remember what I tested here with the strips. They were all negative until El Nino. I went and bought a bottle of wine! I need a drink! But really I can't do that either since my youngest child just threw up on the kitchen floor. At least it wasn't the carpet. Thank you Chris for being so deligent in your testing. I guess reserve me an El Nino for 2010!

Kas

[eastwood2007]

Kas, I'm sorry to hear about your El Nino!

I got El Nino from NC in 2007....should I test it? If so, what part of it should I test?

When I recently saw a post here about most EN's being infected I went out and looked at mine....no symptoms at all....

Again, what part of the plant should I test?

Fortunately it isn't close to anything else and I am pretty certain I was being careful with them then....

Also, could this be the same situation with all the Halcyon group? Such as Devon Green, June, Touch of Class, May, Paradise Joyce...?

I tested PJ last week as I saw in a photo that it had been up against my Twilight that showed up infected last year. It tested negative...

Yikes!!!!

[Kas]

Mine showed no symptoms at all and I have had it since 2004. From what Chris says, the tc batches from that year were probably all infected. I don't know. But I just used a piece of leaf the size of a quarter. You can use a snip of root as well, but I like to use the leaf because it's easier for me to tell it is well mixed because of the green juice. Technical, I know! Maybe yours is ok, but the only way to tell with this one is to test. Good luck!

Kas

[eastwood2007]

Thanks, Kas. I appreciate your response.

I just wondered, if the concentrations in the plant are low, would I be more likely to find it if I tested a mature leaf or like a new leaf? Would the roots be the best?

I tested a Birchwood Parky's Gold this spring that had one bad looking eye (didn't really even look like HVX). That eye tested positive. Just for grins, I tested a leaf on the opposite side of the plant - it tested negative.

I just was curious if there was a better place than another on the plant to pick from....

thanks again!

[Kas]

I don't know the answer to that one. Any thoughts on that one, Chris?

Kas

[Chris_W]

Hi Charla,

I'm not really certain which leaves are better to choose, but from what I've seen, when the weather is really hot then virus symptoms can be suppressed on new foliage. I think the heat might decrease the virus somewhat, or the leaves are growing faster and can fight it off better. In cool weather the virus symptoms are much more noticeable, even on the newest leaves coming out, so I wonder if it is just better to take samples from newer leaves in cooler weather...

If you've had a particular plant for a couple years I think the virus should be through the whole thing by then, so not sure if it really matters which leaf to take. It is a very good question

[eastwood2007]

Thanks, Chris -

I've had my El Nino for 3-4 years/seasons. I'm afraid to test it...it's like I don't want to know...you also mentioned some others in another post: Patriot, Revolution are ones I have, too that I've had awhile...