Three HVX Candidates

[Planetalker]

Hello all,
I started planting Hostas about 4 years ago and really love them. I have been learning alot about Hostas including the problems with HVX. I believe 3 of my Hostas have the virus and just wanted to confirm with the knowledgeable folks here.

The first on is my first Hosta, Pauls Glory:

The second one is Striptease which I purchased from a pretty respectable Nursery this year. It had not leafed out yet but here is what it looks like fully leafed out.
The collapsed and glaucious tissue seems pretty apparent.

Lastly is Stiletto which I have had in a planter.

Your opinions on these would be much appreciated, although I think I can guess that you will confirm this is HVX.

Thanks,
Mike

[Chris_W]

Welcome to the forums, though I'm sorry it has to be under these circumstances.

Yes, Paul's Glory is definitely infected and a really good example of color change and collapsing tissue.

Stiletto also looks virus infected, showing the telltale signs on that one.

Striptease is hard to tell, because the distorted portions are confined to the tips of each leaf only, and appear to be older, first sets of leaves. If that is the case, this might be frost damage that got the tips only, as the plant was emerging. If you see distortion and discoloration on newer leaves too, or on portions that extend down the leaf more, then yes, it could be HVX. If these are the only two leaves then it is hard to tell. Is there bubbling or tissue separation on the backs of those leave, only near the tips? If so, it is frost damage.

Unfortunately, if you bought the Striptease at the same place you bought the other two (or any other hostas) I sure would be cautious and suspicious of those two as they seem to have a real problem with their plant supply.

Sorry for the bad news.

Chris

[Planetalker]

Thanks for the reply and the welcome Chris. Striptease is staying in it's pot until I can be assured it isn't HVX. I'll probably wait to see how it looks next year and let it winter in it's pot. I will have to dig Paul's Glory out this fall. Shame to lose the original Hosta from my garden but I won't take any chances with an infected plant. I have a Captain Kirk that is showing signs of ink bleed as well so it will go too. I can't help but wonder how many casual gardeners out there have infected Hostas and are totally unaware. It's a real shame the growers in Holland and elsewhere have not taken this problem very seriously.

[viktoria]

They will take it seriously when we stop buying from them!

Viktoria