Hallson Gardens

Question - if a healthy hosta is dug with an infected shovel, how long would it take for HVX to show up on a test strip? Does anyone know?

I was working with a team of people in my church hosta garden on Saturday. Our church has just amalgamated with another church and a few people raided the gardens at the now empty and soon to be demolished church. Among the plants they brought over was one with obvious HVX which I made them destroy immediately and a whole pile of common varieties - 'Undulata Albomarginata' (as if we didn't already have enough) and 'Undulata' or 'Undulata Univitata'. There was one nice, upright hosta, variety unknown to me but I'll get a pic. It was most certainly dug with the same shovel that dug the others including the infected one.

I'm just wondering how long I should wait before using a test strip on it.

And grant me patience as I deal with the self-appointed expert gardener at our church (who runs everything and whose clone can be found in every church) who was saying how nice the hostas were and they still had the labels (Plantain plant- mediavariegata).

Hi Ann,

In general it would take about a year for a newly infected plant to develop a high enough concentration to test positive with the test strips. If it was only infected at one small spot on the plant then it might take even longer to get all the way to the other side. I always tell people to test at the end of the first growing season for new arrivals, but might take the following season to know for certain.

Wish I could tell you it was sooner.

Chris

So sad Ann.... But they are everywhere... have to take some strolls when I am selling hostas for my friends Then I can come back smiling

Chris,.... so fast, with some of them showing visual symptoms after 5 or even 7 years I thought it took more years

Pia