Can HVX be purged from soil

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jul 11, 2006 3:10 pm

Can the HVX virus be purged from the soil? For instance if a hosta with HVX is removed from the ground, if there is still any root etc with HVX left in the ground, will planting some other type of plant in the hole purge the virus?
Something like crop rotation, where the soil gets poor because of planting the same crop, so a different type of crop is planted to re nourish the soil. Does this make any sense?
I planted a Coleus where my virused Striptease was just to fill in the empty spot and I started wondering if it would clean up/absorb any virus still in the dirt.

Ginger

Post by **Chris_W** » Jul 11, 2006 3:13 pm

Hi Ginger,

The virus will die along with any of the old Striptease roots and be gone. Planting a coleus in its place will simply help fill the gap until next year, then you could plant a new hosta there later on. But planting the coleus or just leaving the spot bare shouldn't make any difference.

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jul 11, 2006 3:22 pm

Thanks Chris! I was curious about how long I would have to leave the place empty because I was worried about any roots etc left in the ground when I dug. I hoped the virus would not live, but ya never know

I thought if it was still there, maybe planting something else would kill it off, but I mostly planted Coleus because it filled the space and since they are annuals, I don't have to worry about digging it up next year. So if I want to plant one of my new hosta in that area, it is safe to do so? The striptease has been out of the ground since around May.

Ginger

Post by **Chris_W** » Jul 11, 2006 5:34 pm

If it was me I would wait until next spring to plant a new hosta.

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jul 12, 2006 10:14 am

Okay, will do. I have all the new ones in pots, so they can wait as long as it takes. Thanks much
Ginger