Could all my hostas have HVX? (no pics)

[anitamo]

A thought occured to me just now, and I am very curious about it. Since I didn't know about HVX until last year or was it 2 years ago ? Anyways, I haven't bought a hosta from anywhere, except from Hallson's, in two years at least. Prior to that, the majority of them came from big box stores. During fall cleanup or at any other time, I would take my pruners/scissors and cut down the dying leaves and scapes indiscriminately. Never stopping to disinfect between cuts. Well, I'm all grown up now (LOL) and know better. BUT, does this mean that ALL of my hostas have the virus if a couple got it? They swapped sap, of this I am sure, and I have already rid my gardens of the prime suspects. A few look like "maybes", but I don't want to go crazy and throw them out for no reason, although that's what I want to do, just to be safe. One thing for sure, though, my Hallson hostas are in my new hosta garden and not sharing anything...I keeping these guys safe. Any thoughts?

[newtohosta-no more]

Potentially some of your hostas could have the virus because of the cutting without cleaning the tools between plants, but some hostas are more resistant to the virus than others. So I'd be really surprised if ALL of your hostas were infected unless, of course, all the ones you have are on the "easily infected list". Now that you know about HVX and how to prevent an infection you can be more careful and just keep an eye on your hostas for signs.
And for the record....most of us were unaware of HVX at one time, so you aren't alone with your worries.

[anitamo]

Thanks, Joan, for replying. That makes me feel better about some hostas being more resistant to the virus. Do you know if the virus shows up right away in the spring? What I mean is, if a virus looks iffy right now in the fall, how can I be sure it's the virus and not normal fall markings? I have a few that looks great in the spring, but as the seasons wore on, they looked worse for wear. Not sure if frost, insects, sun, or virus is the culprit. So if they look good in the spring again, is that a good sign? Hope I didn't confuse you with my question.

[newtohosta-no more]

I would think that if they developed visible signs in the Fall then those signs will appear again early next Spring. Chris can probably give you a better answer, so why don't you PM him and ask him to check out this post and add his comments.

[hostasilly]

Hi there,
I'm no expert, but I too was worried about the appearance of some of my hostas. I started looking at the hostas in the better garden centers & some of them looked just like mine did. I think in the late summer & fall some hostas tend to develope a splochy appearance that is a little scary. I think just check them out in the spring & use that bleach from now on. I keep a covered pail by my garden shed for my shovels and a covered potatoe salad bucket for my pruners. Then I am always ready & don't cheat.

[Chris_W]

Like Joan said, even if you did have a good amount of HVX on your pruners the chances of it spreading to every single hosta is low. Many might have become infected, but probably not all of them. Some will catch it much more easily than others, but others may take 2 or 3 exposures to catch it, others may take even more tries.

Keep an eye on things, of course, and be careful, it can spread.

[anitamo]

Thanks for responding everyone. It's great to come here and ask questions and/or be assured.

[thy]

Like Joan said, we all spend a few years looking for HVX.

I do think I am free of it, got a few bagged ones but they showed the synotoms very early..

Some take one year to show, some takes 5. Sum and Substance fx, others are not visiable (sp?) at all, Minuteman and other green with white edge

So enjoy your hostas, do not trade the old ones, clean your pruners... you are in the same shoes as all of us

Enjoy and take care
That's all we can do