How has HVX changed the way you garden?

[Dovid]

In view of HVX, how has it changed the way you garden? Here are some of the ways it has affected me.

1. I no longer bring a new plant in to fill in a gap in a hosta bed. Instead, I grow them in their own bed or a container for at least one year. After a year (this still may be too short a time for the virus to be apparent), I will then move them into the main bed.

2. I am cautious about trying a new supplier. I look at the investment I have now (that is, what it cost to buy what I have plus the time it took to grow them to maturity), and I don't consider it worth it to order plants from someone who may have issues with their stock.

3. I think about possible ways for the virus to spread. For example, I no longer do "flood irrigation" of a bed in case that may result in the transmission of the virus from an infected plant (one that I don't know about) to the rest.
I should emphasize that I have not come across any recommendation to avoid flood irrigation of a bed. It is just a precaution that I am taking. The only way that it might be useful is if a healthy plant has recently sustained some damage (for example, it has been stepped on). Again, this has no status as a best practice.

[eastwood2007]

Ditto for me, Dovid.

BTW, welcome to the forums! I hope you enjoy the company! You'll never meet a better group of folks, and they know and share their hosta stuff, too!

Again, welcome!

[thy]

Hej and welcome to the forums

Agree with number one and two.. never thought of 3... but I clean my tools all times... can't even cut scapes of a 5 years old healthy looking hosta without alcohol.

Bye from Chris here at Hallson and you will be as safe as possible

Pia

[Chris_W]

Things that I've changed:

I don't rake the gardens any longer. I use a leaf blower if I need to, or leave it be.

I don't cut down scapes and don't carry pruners around. I have some disinfecting wipes used for hospitals that will kill virus on hard surfaces and I use those all the time on scissors and knives - before and after cutting anything. I also use disposable razor blades often - cut and toss.

I wash my hands often and use disposable gloves when handling and potting new bare root plants - changing to new gloves between batches.

I have switched from using shovels to using spading forks. Roots are not cut out of the ground - instead the hostas are pried out of the ground.

I have a bucket of hospital grade lysol mixed up all the time with a scrub brush inside the bucket. Forks get rinsed off then scrubbed off and dropped into the bucket.

NOTHING gets cut down in the fall any longer. Instead I clean things up in early spring. I'm thinking about getting a flame thrower to do the job too

Thats about all I can think of for now.

[impatience]

Yes. Without the same enthusiasm.

[eastwood2007]

Chris, have you considered carrying flamethrowers as garden accessories? Could be an up-and-coming new item!

[VThosta/daylilylover]

Chris,
You advise

NOTHING gets cut down in the fall any longer.

I was thinking that I should clean up everything before it snows. You think it's better to wait for spring?
This will be my first year taking care of the hostas and I want to make sure. So even when the plants have "melted" due to a freeze, it's still not safe to cut that part away and it's better leave it and clean everything up in the spring? (Don't mean to be dense, just want to be certain this is what you advise for the home gardener too.)

[Dovid]

Thank you for the kind welcome to the forum.

I used to flood the main hosta bed once a season in case there are any salt buildups in the root zone. I stopped doing this when I read that recirculated water used in some commercial greenhouse operations can result in the transmission of plant viruses. While HVX may not spread by flood irrigating the bed, I noticed the recommendation to soak bare root plants in their own container rather than all in the same bucket.

As far as cutting scapes, I use disposable razors, but use the same razor as long as it is the same plant. I assume if one part of the plant is infected, then the other is, too. I was curious what others do in the Fall with the leaves. I have wondered if removal of the old leaves can be done more safely when temperatures are below a given mark. It would be interesting to know if HVX was dormant below a certain temperature. It certainly takes longer to cut the leaves if you disinfect your knife and hands in between plants.

Does anyone see any value in interplanting hosta with another plant such as Solomon's seal? I am thinking that instead of having a nice massed bed of hosta of having gaps between the plants. This way, an infected plant can be forked out of the bed with less chance of damaging the roots of a neighboring hosta.

[wishiwere]

Chris, I always USED to let them die back and clean up the spring, then started worrying about the nematode thing and leaves sitting there with possible virus, so I now I've waited till that first light snow frost has dried up and they have died back enough to pull them off easily. Of course, I don't have the multitude of many that most have either, sadly

Never thought about the rake! I do use that in the spring! Was NOT thinking of course! Thanks for the thoughts.

The leaf blower/sucker-upper is a great tool anyway for mulching leaves, that might work on leaves, but I wouldn't want to use them hosta of course.

Razor blades? Hospital wipes? Great ideas! Thanks for ALL the ideas!

[Tigger]

For a commercial grower like Chris, I can understand (and applaud) the extreme care with which he now cares for his hostas.

For a mere gardener like myself, I can't be that paranoid. I buy plants from reputable nurseries (and if I spot suspect plants, talk directly to the owners and discover who supplied what before buying anything). I keep a close eye on plants that come from auctions and trades. And that's about it. There's some advantage, I suppose, to having a garden that was already pretty darn full of hostas when HVX became the menace it is. I'm only bringing a dozen new hostas to the garden each year; some years even fewer than that. As far as being on the donor side of trades and auctions, I generally only take up plants that I've had for 4 years.

You may find this a cavalier approach, but if I have to worry any more about it than I already do, then the gardening just wouldn't be fun at all any more.

[Chris_W]

I should have mentioned that I avoid raking when the hosta leaves are green so I don't scratch the leaves.

It is just fine to rake them up when they are dried, either late fall/early winter or early spring before they have emerged. It should be safe to cut them back when they are totally dried up too.

[wishiwere]

So you think it's safe to rake them up in the spring then? That's what I've always done before, but last year, went out after a good snow and it all were dried back and easy to pull off. It would be a lot less hassle to do it the old way Thanks!

And tigger? If I had as many hosta as some of you, I probably would be the same way. Alas, I've only 75 varieties and it's not a difficult task to add these to their care. One day, Hopfully, I can hold the same thoughts you have b/c I have so many!

[DryGulch]

I tend not to even look at hostas when they are offered for sale, least I become captivated and buy one, then have to agonize over how long to quarantine it.

When people casually visit my hosta garden and see all the flower scapes still remaining and mention how they "don't like the flowers" and are perplexed that they remain in my otherwise seemingly meticulous beds...my first mention is sometimes the plantigineas with their wonderful scent, if in bloom, but is generally the dangers of HVX. They immediately have raised eyebrows, rapid heatbeats, and grow increasingly pallid.

I, too, wait until spring to clean up.

I approach dividing my hosta with the same rigor generally applied to tissue culturing. Chris, brough up a valid point about washing hands, wearling and changing gloves often and using a ready-made bucket of lysol and sanitizing wipes......I am almost ready for a HAZMAT suit...maybe one with radioactive marking. That might get people's attention!

[wishiwere]

And can you see the neighborhood all putting their homes up for sale, or calling in the FBI to find out what you are burying in your yard, that you must 'suit up' for?

Might be a good way to get homes cheap around you, which would be great if they have largely shaded grounds!

[Spider]

Hey, it would reduce your property tax!

[wishiwere]

There you go! All round a win-win situation! Where can I get one? I'd like to get a couple neighbors to move. Well, one anyway! Nice big farm house with a great tree out front that shades the whole front yard YIPPEE!

[thy]

Dovid

Just reread your post,,still, never heard of flooding a bed... but the HVX only spred if it comes from an open wound of an infected hosta to an other open wound... so just do not break or dig around

Pia