Hallson Gardens

Hi Chris,

Thanks for being here. Someone just told me you still maintained this site.

I bought 3 common hosta (Francee, guacamole and NBC) from a local reputable nursery last spring to see if they would grow after losing most of my hosta to rhizoctonia root rot four years ago. Two of the three seemed to do fine and Francee did ok. Cut to the chase - bought 3 more this year (Anne, fragrant dream, and ???) (same grower, same nursery). I took one back because it had ink bleed.

I may still have the rhizoctonia, so was looking for plants with the symptoms. Instead, I found Guacamole with ink bleed on a couple of leaves. I'm going to toss it. I had already tossed Francee for rhizoconia. I looked at NBC and can't decide. The only photos I can find online just show collapsed green tissue. She looks pretty bad. but it might get too much sun.

So the questions are: Does NBC look like it has HVX? The other question is should I toss the all from that grower? What if I try to keep the Anne? It's a really nice hosta and is not for sale anywhere that I can find. I guess the fact I have an Anne pretty well indicates the origin of the slips was in Europe (just occurred to me).

Oh yeah, I only grow in pots.

Thanks again.

Barbara (bkay)

Hi BK,

I don't see any signs of HVX on your Night Before Christmas, and since you grow them in pots I also would not worry about keeping them as they are sort of isolated already.

And did you get any help on the fungus problem? I wonder if a fungicide drench of some kind will stop some of that? Also I've seen root rot problems at nurseries that used Osmocote fertilizers, and the hotter the location the more damage that can do to roots. Sometimes fungal problems crop up as secondary to some other damage, so be careful not to fertilize too strong when the hostas are dry and I don't use osmocote.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Thanks Chris. I just got an answer from the extension service on the rhizoctonia. There are no new treatments. They say it's soil borne. It just occurred to me that all of the rhizoctonia may have originated in my homemade potting soil, as I still had some left from the time I started losing hosta.

Thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.
bkay