HVX everywhere...

[eastwood2007]

I visited 4 large reputable nurseries in our area yesterday...very bad news. All but one had HVX hostas...Gold Standard, Paul's Glory, Lady Gueneviere, Striptease. One in particular has had it 3 years in a row in large quantities. First time I brought to their attention they didn't act like they knew anything about it, last year the same. This time I mentioned it to a manager and he said "Oh, I saw that and they were supposed to have pulled them already." Said they have had alot of problems with it last two years, so they know what it is and I believe they are not doing very much about it....so I am naming names...

I recommend you don't buy any hostas from Heartland Nursery in Lee's Summit, MO. They are located at I-470 and View High Drive. They had all four of the above mentioned in large quantities with HVX. Two years ago when I was there it looked like about 20% of their entire hosta inventory was infected.

It makes me sad....

[Chris_W]

The wholesalers I deal with were taking it very seriously last year and their plant stock showed. But I wonder if it is because I "outed" them and gave them so much trouble (and information) over the past few years, because I've checked out a couple new wholesalers that I hadn't ever ordered from and from what I heard, their stock is terrible! One even sent me an availability listing that had Queen Josephine listed as available with a note that they had Virus X

Scary stuff

[eastwood2007]

Scary to say the least!!! The guy I talked to yesterday at Heartland was well aware of the virus...he and the lady sitting next to him said they had many batches tested last year...yada, yada, yada. Yet, they had alot of HVX. I was going to suggest that he stop buying from the offending distributors, but could quickly tell that he wasn't really interested in seriously addressing the problem.

When I say 'alot' of HVX, I mean there were whole tables full that could be seen from across the room, not just a few hard to see speckles. It is quite evident that they are not being diligent about it.

Please understand, I am a business woman and I understand that the reason people own a business is to make a profit, and hopefully a huge profit, but this outfit seems to be only about the money. I have had that perception before when I was there. The sad thing is that it is a huge garden center and serves a very large area with little competition, so HVX is being spread like wildfire, I am certain.

I am supposed to be back in that area in a day or two, so I think I will stop back in. If I still see the same stuff, I am going to call somebody...I don't know who yet, but somebody! I am certainly open for suggestions on who to call, if anyone has any ideas????

[newtohosta-no more]

Hmmmm.....someone on here has mentioned before about the State department that you would complain to. They are in charge of inspecting nurseries. It escapes my memory at the moment. But I would think that it is against the law or something to KNOWINGLY sell virused plants! If it's not a law, it should be.
One thing I have told people who work at nurseries about seeing HVX infected hostas is that as for myself, and people like me who collect hostas, if we see that in a nursery the chances of us ever buying a hosta from them is slim to none. How we are treated by them when we bring the problem to their attention will also determine if we ever make any kind of plant purchase from them! And we plant people talk to each other a lot about the good and the bad places, so word does get around.

[Chris_W]

At first I posted a link to the kansas dept of Ag, but then noticed the nursery is in Missouri.

Check the website below and maybe drop them an email. They will direct you to the right place to make a report (usually just a phone call or email is enough to get things moving).

Good luck!

Chris

http://www.mda.mo.gov/contactus.htm

[thy]

If it is 3. time it sucks
In southern Euro you get advertisements on your wind screem every time you park the car
What about a lot of papers with a few pics, a warning and some web urls Legal.. I do not know

Joan, I do the same thing
The problem is not really us.. we know what to look for, but all the people who want a couples of nice looking hostas, they are easy targets

[roflol]

Charla, it was really nice meeting you yesterday, and thanks again for the seedlings!

Toby Tobin has a long-running lawn and garden call-in radio show on AM radio on weekends; don't know if you know about it. Toby used to live in a house up the street from where I live now in Lee's Summit.

Maybe a call in to his program with some information about Hosta Virus X would inform at least some of the listening public about it, and maybe Chris' DVD could get passed along as well so he could learn about it (if he doesn't already know about it), or he could talk about it again. I'm not sure he would name nursery names (it's commercial radio), but who knows?

Truly a mere drop in the bucket, no doubt, but just a thought.

Terri

[eastwood2007]

Chris, thanks for the link. I am going to check out the nurseries again Friday or next week and see what I find. If I still find HVX, I am going to contact MDA. I'm not going to be mean about it, but if there is anything that will bring this issue to a greater awareness, I am going to try.

Terri, that may be a really good idea about Toby Tobin. Do you know what station he is on?

Thanks for the input you two....great ideas!

[roflol]

Had to google it since I only hear it hit-and-miss in the car.

He's on 980 KMBZ from 6-10am on Saturdays. Studio line is 576-7798 (area code 816) according to the website. I remember they do a lot of yakking with guests in the studio but they do take outside calls several times during the program.

[eastwood2007]

Excellent! Thanks, Terri! I am going I think tomorrow to see what I find...