More Dutch imports with HVX in 2007

Post by **Chris_W** » Aug 28, 2007 12:12 am

UPDATED to include another variety:

It is that time of year again where I get our new hostas tested for HVX and the results do not look promising for imported hostas.

This year we only imported 12 varieties and 6 of them have HVX:

First Frost
Blackjack
Gypsy Rose
Royal Standard
Big Daddy
Fortunei Albopicta

Gypsy Rose and Royal Standard showed symptoms on several hostas as soon as they emerged. None of the others show symptoms but had repeated positive tests from different samples from the batch.

We treated all of these plants with extreme care when handling them and kept them potted up so they were separate from all of our field stock. None of them were sold. They will be sun dried before being bagged up for the trash.

I will likely continue to order in small quantities of plants just so I can keep sampling things and reporting the results. Hopefully it will be safe to order anything at all one day...

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Aug 28, 2007 7:00 am

Sorry to hear that , Chris. It must be very discouraging at times to run a nursery and have to deal with this same problem over and over again.

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Aug 28, 2007 12:29 pm

How sad...

Thanks for keeping an eye on things, Chris! You're a gem!

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Aug 28, 2007 1:06 pm

You know what? Maybe it should be a law, that in order to sell plants, you have to send the person like yourself, freebie trials first for a year before you can sell them!

It surely has to be expensive to keep trying these, then testing them and then having to throw away the products! Dang, it's just not right!

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Aug 28, 2007 4:03 pm

Chris, do you have opportunity to go back to the supplier for a refund?

sugar · Post by **sugar** » Aug 28, 2007 4:40 pm

I live in Belgium and I often see infected plants around here in garden centers that rarely sell more then 10 varieties, but I never saw an infected plant in the specialed hosta nurseries around here. The infected plants are Royal Standard, Sum & Substance and some Tiara varieties.

From what I understand it really depends on the supplier...

I bought over 100 plants over the last two years, 80% come from Holland, and up to now, not a single one shows any infection.

ViolaAnn · Post by **ViolaAnn** » Aug 29, 2007 11:20 am

Chris, You indicated earlier that a very large percentage of Gypsy Rose were infected and I found signs of it in my own plant last June.

I also have First Frost which was new to me this season from a reliable Canadian nursery. Do you have any indication of how prevalent it is in First Frost? And was it showing any obvious signs of HVX?

Thanks,
Ann

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » Aug 29, 2007 1:43 pm

Buckeye · Post by **Buckeye** » Aug 30, 2007 6:30 am

Chris, I respect and greatly admire your company's philosophy and dedication toward offering only clean, healthy stock. I can also appreciate the difficulties in finding a nice array of marketable and profitable varieties that will allow a small independent business like yours to continue to thrive and keep offering good healthy plants to consumers. However I would very respectfully disagree with your position on continuing to buy from the Dutch importers. I continue to hear statements from the sales reps of the big importers like: "We guarantee a 1% or less infection rate", and "You have to expect 5% to be infected". Even 1% is still too high. Since the USDA has continually refused to put their foot down on stopping this problem, it appears the only thing that will get the Dutch growers to change their practices is the marketplace.

This is just my 2 cents worth, and I welcome your feedback.

Post by **Chris_W** » Aug 30, 2007 9:02 am

Hi Fred,

It's nice to hear from you.

I have actually reduced our Dutch import spending by 90% in the past two years on all plants, but mostly hostas.

Almost all of the plants that I purchased for this year (I ordered these a year ago) were marketed to me as HVX free or tissue culture grown plants that had never been in the field. The prices were also greatly reduced. I really thought they were getting things under control since we had very good results in 2006.

The "5% rule" is new this year. The first time I heard it I was furious! If they had told me this a year ago it would have been a different story entirely whether I would have purchased these same plants. But if I hadn't purchased these plants we would have no idea of how bad the problem is... A bit of a catch 22, but after forcing them to give me credit it isn't like they made any money on these.

I hope that you will continue to be vocal about the 5% rule too. This is totally unacceptable.

Thanks for listening

Chris

Arlene · Post by **Arlene** » Aug 30, 2007 8:26 pm

How sad for you, Chris . . . and how frustrating. I'm afraid that until a large portion of US buyers simply refuse to buy from the Dutch exporters, they'll continue "business as usual" -- meaning that they'll ship whatever they think they can get by with.

Thanks again for being one "clean" spot on the hosta horizon. I can't begin to tell you how many people I've referred to you!

thy · Post by **thy** » Sep 01, 2007 8:08 pm

Chris.. where did you get them... names please

There are 2 good places in Holland... please help them in their efford to get rid of HVX

Holland and HVX in general: DO NOT TÁLK ABOUT IT
= IF YOu DO NOT TALK ABOT IT, WE DO NOT HAVE IT

So yell a them... they know it, but it is $

Eeeny · Post by **Eeeny** » Sep 08, 2007 2:14 pm

I may not be a mathematician, but I'm pretty sure that 5 out of 12 is a lot more than 5%. I bought a Blackjack this spring with a Simple Pleasures name tag. Do you think there's any chance it won't have HVX?

Post by **Chris_W** » Sep 08, 2007 3:15 pm

Hi Eeny,

They mean 5% from any single batch. So 4 out of 100 plants testing positive is okay for them to sell (supposedly). I wish the USDA would crack down on that. ANY amount of virus allowed is complete BS. From what I've seen, one plant testing positive means the whole batch is infected. Some of those that test negative just don't have a high enough virus concentration to show up on the test. Future tests of those batches would likely prove that!

We got in 25 Blackjack, and yes, they came from Simple Pleasures. We tested two plants from the batch and both were positive for HVX. I would say there is a good chance that all of the plants they sold are infected.

Personally I will never, ever buy another hosta from Simple Pleasures. Over the years they have been the worst offender, but I had been told things were better this year, plus many items were promoted as being TC plants that had never been in the field. I don't really think that makes any difference now.

Simple Pleasures is the wholesale division of Van Bourgondien. From Simple Pleasures we received infected Blackjack, Big Daddy, and Gypsy Rose. We bought 2 other hostas, too, and one of those was the wrong plant. The last batch that came back negative is also on the chopping block, though, just because I don't really want to take any chances.

From Van Bloem Gardens we bought First Frost that tested positive, plus we bought a batch that was mislabeled, was supposed to be Eskimo Pie, turned out to be Fortunei Albopicta, and they were infected.

From DeVroomen we bought Royal Standard.

I hope that by sharing this information it will help gardeners and nurserymen make informed decisions about who to buy from, much like the Garden Watchdog on Dave's Garden.

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Sep 09, 2007 9:01 am

Although we don't say it often enough, we surely do appreciate the time and effort you put in to informing both us, the 'other' nurseries and all your efforts to keep our gardens safe from this too, Chris!

Again, thank you so much for your taking pride in your work and in being a friend to all who love to garden with hosta!

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Sep 09, 2007 12:29 pm

wishiwere wrote:Although we don't say it often enough, we surely do appreciate the time and effort you put in to informing both us, the 'other' nurseries and all your efforts to keep our gardens safe from this too, Chris!

Again, thank you so much for your taking pride in your work and in being a friend to all who love to garden with hosta!

Ditto for me, Chris. I sincerely appreciate your diligent efforts on this...

thy · Post by **thy** » Oct 13, 2007 3:03 pm

I asked the American Hosta Society to care, the Danish Plant protection Society... and a friend the Duch Plant Protetion department ... They do not care at all...DARN DONT KNOW ANYTHING , BUT NOW THE Danish TELL ME THEY KNOW... SORRY SOMETIMES I HAVE A ISSUE AGAINST MÉN

... Fact they do not care, fact they blacklist you if you as a nursery person and do not adjust to fact...

In Holland there are 2... only 2...bit more expencive , I know- they test

Chris.. I PM'd you some details... a while ago

Pia