El Nino receiverd in 2004 looked good all season and came out perfect in spring. HVX has given me many sleepless nights, but thanks to Chris informing on this virus, I could take action and practice prevention.
El Nino was not touched since planted, but now I wonder if there is a different look to the virus on EN. Instead of white, the margins look dotted. This cultivar grows in a protected area and none of the Hostas nearby were touched by frost. I have learned in the meantime, that frost can have many different 'faces'. We had frost 4 times in a row the second week of June, with touch down in different areas. Some of my virus suspects turned out to be frost damage.
Below El Nino, could it it be HVX?
This is what we know about the El Nino we had here:
Plants from the 2003 crop, harvested in Holland in late 2002, tested negative in 2004.
Plants from the 2004 crop, harvested in Holland in late 2003, gave some positive tests in 2004, but some also tested negative.
Our plants from 2003 grew well, always showed a crisp, white margin, and never showed the marginal misting in 2003, 2004, or 2005.
Some plants from 2004 showed the marginal misting in 2004 and now again in 2005. We kept plants in pots to see if they ever showed symptoms. The only difference seems to be this misting. Can I say for sure that this is caused by the virus? No. Is it possible? Maybe.
We did notice some odd behavior in a few plants before they showed full blown symptoms. In batches of Sum & Substance we saw some plants turn dark green before showing the traditional color bleed along the veins. We also noticed stunted growth in Diamond Tiara, Golden Tiara, Goldrush, and Blue Cadet before they showed virus symptoms. Goldrush and Blue Cadet also had twisted leaves. Regal Splendor and Undulata Albomarginata appeared to have elongated leaves and thinner than normal margins before showing symptoms.
I also saw one plant of Tortilla Chip turn dark green before showing signs of Tobacco Rattle Virus - and from the same nursery that I bought those I had a Gilt By Assocation turn darker than normal before showing signs of an unknown virus that Dr. Lockhart couldn't identify.
At first I thought these color changes were random and unrelated, but now I am starting to wonder.
I would be very cautious of any plants of El Nino. If it wasn't for the fact that Dr. Lockhart was doing free testing last year we probably never would have known about that one, and we were not the only people who sent El Nino samples to Dr. Lockhart. Almost makes me wonder if the AHS pulled funding for the testing so as to keep the whole issue quiet...
I keep waiting for my agriculture inspector to stop by and take samples for testing. I'll have him test some El Nino with clean margins and some with misted margins to see if there is a difference.
Thank you Chris! I will continue to watch El Nino carefully. I had orered 10 plants of which one went to a friend. As soon as I heard about the virus, I informed her about the virus and she reports back to me. Until now she has not seen any signs of problems with EN or any of the other Hostas from the Dutch supplier. Will get in touch with her today.
..........."Almost makes me wonder if the AHS pulled funding for the testing so as to keep the whole issue quiet... "
Almost, eh? Could this possibly be true? Denial is a powerful tool in the hands of the powerful!! Who would we ask? I didn't know that Dr. Lockhart's testing was free last year due to funding(?).
Another explaination could be that someone saw the handwriting on the wall and realized this could be a very costly year for funding as hundreds or thousands of samples make their way to Dr Lockhart's lab, so bailed out! Who knows! We still have a Major Problem! I would like to hear many 'official' alarms being rung, not just from those 'few in the the wilderness', like Chris and Mark!
RE: Your other posting-Thanks for posting such a comprehensive and, unfortunately, far-reaching, list of infected plants. This is helpful to many who need confirmation of their suspicions or a heads-up, to keep an eye out!
I think you have a better explaination than I did. I am sure that Dr. Lockhart was overwhelmed with plant submissions towards the end of last summer and it was only going to get worse this year, so I bet that it just wasn't going to be possible to continue.
Chris, do you or anyone else have a pic of El Nino that is virused for sure? I bought one at the PNW garden show from Naylor Creek last spring. That was the same year you had to throw out all those virused ones. I am just wondering if you both got them from the same supplier. You have talked to the Boyz. What are they doing as far as testing goes. I put it straight into a pot and haven't trimmed anything off of it. Needless to say, I am a little nervous about this one.
Kas
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend; and inside a dog, it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
I know the boyz were testing some things last year.
The bad news is that nobody has seen a virused El Nino, yet. We only learned that they were virused through testing.
We tested 3 plants from 2003, in 2004, and all 3 tested negative. We sent out one sample from 2004 and it tested positive, plus several other people I know sent samples of El Nino for testing that came back positive from the 2004 batch in 2004. So it seems that the first batch I had in 2003 might have been okay, but then was planted in the fields in Holland, I assume, and infected later. Because the virus can take years to show symptoms I believe that we will know next year or the following year what a virused El Nino looks like.
So far my 2003 plants still look good this year and have grown well. I had saved some from the 2004 batch, in containers, and they continued to look okay this spring but we have since thrown them all out. I will retest the 2003 batch this summer after we save up some money for testing.
As far as I know there is only one grower in Holland producing El Nino and distributing them through two companies, Van Bourgendien and DeVroomen, under contract. So I believe they all originate at the same place.
It would be worth keeping an eye on all of the El Nino plants in existence. I really hope we don't have any unwanted surprises with the first batch from 2003, but if the plants were young in 2004 there is a greater chance, so be careful with it.
Naylor continued to sell El Nino this year, so I don't know if they all tested negative for them or if they are older plants from 2003 like the ones we were selling. Might be worth asking them about it or their opinion.
