HVX on Striptease, Pacific Blue Edger... ??

[kivi]

Hi, Do these hostas have HVX?

Striptease:

Pacific Blue Edger:

Unknown hosta:

[Chris_W]

Hello and welcome to the forums, though I'm sorry it couldn't be for some better news... Yes, that is definitely HVX on Striptease and on Pacific Blue Edger. The last plant also looks to have one spot of HVX symptoms, perhaps some spots from another virus too or maybe from spring frost damage too, but that one spot really looks like HVX.

It is really advisable to dig up and throw away these plants. The best time to do it is in the fall because research showed that HVX doesn't easily transmit to other plants in the fall, after they have gone dormant, so digging in the fall greatly minimizes or may even eliminate the chance of spreading HVX to neighboring plants when you dig these up. Then clean your tools with thoroughly by rinsing, wiping them off with a household cleaner like lysol, then I recommend following that up by wiping them down with disinfecting wipes. Bleach dips/soaks don't work, you have to actually scrub off the plant sap to remove the virus.

Make sure that from now on you always clean your garden tools after working in the garden. Disinfecting wipes are the easiest thing to use - wipe down scissors, pruners, shovels, trowels, etc. as there is a good chance you might have other virus infected plants and remember, several plants will never show symptoms, so it is best to consider everything suspect now.

Sorry for the bad news, but hopefully that information helps.

Chris

[rockNhostas]

Also...do not plant new hostas in the same spots where you remove the diseased ones.

Sorry about your plants. That bites.

[kivi]

Thanks for the reply and advice. My Hosta collection includes about 200 taxa. Unfortunately, it appears that some of them are infected.

[viktoria]

...Bleach dips/soaks don't work, you have to actually scrub off the plant sap to remove the virus...

Chris

This is the first time I have heard/read that, Chris. What is the source?

Viktoria

[Chris_W]

Hi Viktoria,

I've been saying this for years, here and in my talks, and I learned this from talking with those who work with viruses all the time professionally. When I first starting looking into how to clean best when there are virus present I just started asking around to hospitals, clinics, and testing laboratories to ask the best way to clean and they all said just about the same thing, that you have to scrub surfaces to get rid of whatever it is you are trying to get rid of, and that bleach is not recommended for viruses. HVX, like other viruses, is not directly killed by bleach, especially in the presence of organic matter. AGDIA was the only one that told me to use bleach as a surface cleaner, but they also recommended such a strong solution that you would have to use regular bleach practically straight out of the bottle or dilute it only about 2 to 1 with water, and I think that is way too strong to be handling. In my talks when I've told people that a bleach dip wouldn't work I use the analogy to cleaning your silverware after you eat. Do you just dip your silverware into wash water and then put it away? No, we scrub them off with soapy water and a scrubber or dish rag, then rinse and air dry. That's the exact same procedure you have to use with HVX contaminated tools.

Then the AHS funded Dr. Lockhart's last batch of research and this question was asked of him - what is the best way to disinfect contaminated tools? He looked into different methods, including a dip in bleach, and found that the bleach dip is definitely not the answer. HVX was not eliminated with a bleach dip. He found that the only way to get rid of the virus is to wipe/scrub off the tools to make sure you remove all the plant sap, and he found that any household cleaner will work to do it, but you can't simply dip it.

My favorite cleaners are foaming lysol spray and disinfecting wipes. I rinse off my tools, saturate them with the foaming cleaner, then use the disinfecting wipes to scrub that off, then rinse and wipe them down again. I buy Sani-Cloth Plus wipes in a 160 count tub which are a lysol plus alcohol wipe which alone would probably be enough to disinfect but I like to get all the dirt off the best I can first and always follow up with these.

Hope that helps some more, and thank you rocknhostas for the reminder about avoiding planting more hostas there.

Chris

[kHT]

Chris, we here use our out door steam cleaner after we wash with soapy water before we dig plants and between digging something else. We also use it on the pruners due to the virus
that the Brugmansia carries.

[kivi]

Hi, here are some images of strange looking Hosta 'Spritzer'. Images are taken from one of my friend's garden. Could it be a viral??

spritzer11.jpg (33.66 KiB) Viewed 7427 times

[kivi]

For information: H. 'Spritzer' lab test result:
HVX - negative
TRV - positive

[Chris_W]

Thanks for the info showing what TRV looks like on Spritzer.

[ViolaAnn]

I was not sure what TRV was; so I Googled - Tobacco Rattle Virus for others like me who are unenlightened.