HVX on Frosted Dimples

[Chris_W]

This one is really frustrating for me. Back in 2007 we purchased 18 batches of hostas from the Dutch, after being promised that they had cleaned everything up and they were guaranteed free of Hosta Virus X , and 15 of the 18 batches were found to be infected from randomly testing plants in each batch. The remaining plants have been kept way in the back by the swamp after repeatedly sampling and testing them each year and we've never had a positive test and we hadn't seen any symptoms - until now

This year I started selling a couple plants from this older batch of Frosted Dimples (we've been selling tissue culture plants of Frosted Dimples from another batch for years both here and by mail) but we've tested each one that comes out by doing a quick virus test. On Saturday we got our first positive, then on closer inspection I saw the symptoms. Boy, they are tough to see. Afterwards we went and tested every single other Frosted Dimples out there (we did 22 more tests) and none of the others came back positive. So I pulled a couple more leaves off the one positive and got more positive tests. Then did a root test and it was positive. I can't believe I almost sold that one, but thankfully I tested it first

Here are the symptoms on Frosted Dimples (purchased from Simple Pleasures aka Van Bourgondien, by the way). There aren't any other hostas on either side of these, and it is sort of amazing that hostas that were growing right next to (inches away) are still negative, but that might have changed now that we disturbed it so they are all getting pitched.

[Buckeye]

Wow...we really needed the excellent photography just to see those subtle symptoms. So Chris, do you think that the concentration of virus particles was just so low, that there were no visible symptoms for years, and that you were getting false negatives in previous testing?

[sweetee]

Concerned: I bought hostas in 2008 from Van Bourgondien. One of them was Striptease. This is the same one, which I posted pics and Chris said was positive for hvx. I won't be buying hostas from them any longer. Now I'm going to have to watch the rest I bought from them. They should provide test kits with their hostas! I either buy test kits for the remaining hostas, or throw them away.

[Chris_W]

Hi,

We bought a lot of other hostas in past years through Van Bourgondien, and I would never do it again. They don't really grow anything themselves but get them from a lot of different suppliers and while some might be okay, by the time things get finished being prepped for export then you never know if the plants are still clean or not.

I suspect that since these plants were all handled and potted up on the same day as the other infected batches, before going into our quarantine area, that it wouldn't be out of the question for cross contamination and one of these could have been infected just from handling a thousand infected plants that same day. The concentration wasn't really low as the test kit showed positive pretty easily, but like Halcyon, First Frost, and El Nino, Frosted Dimples might just have a little stronger immune system that allows it to fight the symptoms better.

Sweetee, the test kits are a little pricey, but sometimes the peace of mind is worth it.

[sweetee]

I just purchased the 5 pack and rec'd them last week.. Unfortunately with almost 300 hostas, it's difficult to test them all. I'm not as concerned with my older ones/in ground. Less concerned with the tissue cultures, I usually buy from the same two sources. Most of my hostas look very healthy, but now I won't feel comfortable sharing any hosta, unless it's a couple years old and tested. That's what I will probably use my test strips on. Thanks for all the suggestions and help. I won't be buying from Van Borgondien again, and if I see the word Dutch on a company selling hostas ... I'm outta there!