Hallson Gardens

Hi all,

I was visiting with a friend today and was looking at some hostas he picked up at a big box home improvement store a few years ago. One of the plants looked very suspect from an HVX standpoint. He didn't know the name of the variety.

Can anyone comment on the HVX status of the plant in the picture and provide and ID on the variety?

If it is suspected to have HVX, does anyone know of a good resource that discusses how to remove HVX infected plants from gardens and how to sterilize equipment (shovels) after removal?

I suggested to him to get rid of all of his big box store hostas - was this good advice?

Thanks so much,
Guy

Hi Guy,

That mark you zoomed in on just looks like some random streaking to me - doesn't look like HVX. On a yellow centered hosta like this I would expect dark green bleeding on the veins, radiating out from the vein.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting rid of the box store hostas, with the exception of any recently (last 5 years) purchased minuteman, patriot, or halcyon, but I would recommend avoiding plants from there in the future, and then handle the ones there very carefully in the garden. Actually, no matter where they've been purchased we should all handle our plants carefully. Don't cut into multiple plants without sterilizing tools, don't cut them down in the fall, and disinfect shovels and tools when planting and moving things.

Hope that helps.

Chris

I agree with Chris. By the way, 10:1 that this is 'Gold Standard'. It would be very easy to tell if it had HVX.

Welcome to the forum!