Ruth,

The leaves do have some chlorotic spots, is it possible that they could be infected with mealy bugs? Mealy bugs can give the same indications as mosaic virus but also with the classic mealy bug appearances as well.

Fragaria vesca is usually an indicator plant like you said, I'm wondering if Hippeastrum can become infected with CaMV *Cauliflower Mosaic Virus* which is easily spread to strawberries? Hippeastrum are also very sensitive plants so it wouldn't surprise me if there were a multitude of virus able to infect them.

No obvious mealybugs on the Hippeastrum. Found one on a strawberry.
Ruth

Ruth, thanks for sharing the results. I guess it's good news (if it means they're not virused as opposed to some new virus no one test for yet). Honestly I don't think your leaves look as bad as some of the other very definite white streaked ones that others on the forum posted. I'm hoping it's just some environmental stress they encountered this year and it will pass. Alana

I'll admit that I have not read any of the threads on virus here, but those leaves do not look bad to me at all.....jeesh, there are a ton of reasons you could have some of this, the easiest of which is a simple ion deficiency, but who knows. If you have mealies on the strawberries you almost certainly have mealies on the plants around it.....I find that they just LOVE Amaryllids and I fought hard to eradicate mine that I am pretty sure came in on some imports.....remember, the eggs can survive for a long time so multiple treatments are required.....the problem with mealies is they love to hide in the bulb tunic of course and you will only find them by pulling away the bulb tunic.....even then, you might want to check the roots as the mealies will nicely hide in the roots and suck you dry. I'm guessing there must be a lot of talk about virus here as it spread to the aroid forum, but soooooo many things can cause a little discoloration like this that I do not think I would just jump on the virus bandwagon without some real evidence. Good luck all :o) Dan

The only problem is to get "real" evidence it costs a good chunk of money. If it were affordable I would much rather send off to get my plants tested but I'd rather discard of them before they spread to the rest of my collection which in turn could cost thousands.

Ruth,

I'm very happy for you that your plants turned out to be virus free but somehow your leaves don't appear to look nearly as bad as some of the leaves posted earlier in this post...including mine. Both of the two varieties that I posted had similar mottling and they really didn't look like yours. Later this summer after all the hype I had one more plant that looks "suspicious" but didn't look at all like my other two, actually, it looked more like yours. So I pulled it far away and gave it more food and since this particular plant has been in the same pot for over 2 years and is making multiple babies, I hoped it might be stress. Well, I have to say (now it might just be my imagination since I didn't take pictures) that it seems to look better, the leaves are looking a bit greener and half of the leaves are intirely clear, as they were from the start. So, I'm not sure, but I will continue to segregate this plant and see what it looks like next year. This plant is Estrella and it absolutely refuses to go dormant. This plant has been full of healthy leaves since I potted it up several years ago. Very little die off of the leaves also. Estrella is not my favorite plant, and it blooms twice a year to boot! Anyway, sorry for the ramblings and I am glad your plants are healthy!

Donna

Donna,

I just ordered an H. estella too, I just realized it's from simple pleasures *where the dreaded virused Narcissus tazetta var. orientals came from" I'm HOPING it hasn't shared the same virus as the stupid narcissus they sent me that I took pictures of and posted earlier! I did write them and they sent me a responding e-mail and saying they would forward it to the GM, I haven't heard anything after. I understand if a small family business sends out something like that but these big places that export and send out domestically should be encouraged to have clean stock.. We're buying sick plants, they're making money..

But anyways, I agree, your leaves look a lot less like HMV than most others, I agree they have chlorotic streaks but I think mealy bugs would be the ultimate reason here, mealy bugs can make a plant look especially sick. Either way, "Wrap It Up" just in case ;) hehe

Josh

The consensus seems to be that this leaf doesn't look too bad. Don't plants with "bad" leaves go through a "not-so-bad" period first? If one was worried about viruses, wouldn't one want to catch them early before they spread? I do have some leaves where a larger percent of leaf has the mottled appearance, but sent this one for testing because it didn't have any other damage (snail nibbles, physical damage to tips, end-of-growing-season yellowing, etc.). It will be interesting to see if electron microscopy finds anything. If not, at least I'll have my hippeastrums AND peace of mind. :)

Ruth,

You're exactly right, they do usually go through a "not-so-bad" period and it is possible that there is a form of virus Agdia didn't catch. I feel like you understand the situation thoroughly and honestly geophytes don't show nutritional deficiency quite like other plants, they store many of their nutrients in the storage organ. Like I said, I wonder if CaMV could be a possibility? I'm going to e-mail a few people I know that could possible have the answer.

Josh

Josh, The plant that I have is Estrella,(with an R) not Estella...Estella is a lavender and white stripe, I have one that is supposed to be Estella...but hasn't bloomed. Estrella (who thought of those confusing names anyway) is the one pictured below... now which one did you order?

Donna
{{gwi:430186}}From AMARYLLIS BLOSSOMS BY DONNA D.
{{gwi:430187}}From AMARYLLIS BLOSSOMS BY DONNA D.

I ordered the lavender with the white striping, "Estella"? Do you know anything about "Estella", is it vigorous?

Josh,

Actually, I know nothing about Estella, I found my bulb in a nursery last year, planted it and it refused to flower, it sent up leaves though, outside if went for the summer and it continued to grow more and more healthy leaves... the bulb is very large now. It will definitly bloom for me this season and I still wouldn't be surprised that when it does bloom, it turns out to be an orange of some type or some other common mislabel. Last year was a year of mislabeled bulbs. Actually I have 5 bulbs from last year that never bloomed and they are all very fat and happy...so I have 5 surprises waiting for me. One of them is supposed to be Giraffe.. I already have 2 (bought as Papilio) so I ordered another on Ebay, thinking that I didn't have one so anyway I may have 3 or some other surprise. I'll probably end up with 5 Susans which seemed to be the substitute for just about everything last year. Sorry for the ramble, I just get going and I can't stop!

I sincerely hope you get the correct bulb and that it is healthy....!

Donna

Ruth,
I'm so glad your Hippies are not infected with the HMV!

Donna,
I just love your Estrella, I don't recognize it from the common varieties available. Where did you get it? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on it not being infected.

AJ

Donna,

I agree Donna, I do hope it is labeled properly and I REALLY hope it's healthy :) I also found "Sweet Lilian" which both will be here Tuesday :)

I used all my H. reticulatum var. striatifolium pollen on "graffiti", I've got a bloom of H. reginae popping up so hopefully I have the chance to introduce some red into "estella", maybe we'll get a red trumpet out of it. I would also like to try and self "Estella" if it's fertile and see what might pop up :)

Josh

AJ,
I acquired my Estrella several years ago as a mislabeled bulb as a nursery. I don't even remember what it was that I thought I was buying....It now has several bulblets...but not knowing whether or not it is virused I'm stuck with keeping them all until such time I decide to get rid of the plant. I'm not there yet. I think I'll plant them all in the ground next year and see what happens. It has been in the same pot since I purchased it and it is definitly evergreen. It refuses to loose it's leaves even though I withheld water after the first year. It also blooms with 5 or more flowers to a scape and blooms every six months or so. This is the state of several of the leaves as of today. The bulblets all are clear, and a couple of the large strap-like leaves are also clear, but about 3 of the large leaves look like this picture. I am open to suggestions as to whether anyone thinks this plant is sick or not, I'm thinking it's sick, but not sure.

Donna

{{gwi:430188}}

Donna,

I'm a conservative when it comes to bulbs if you have space to segregate it for a while I would. I'm guessing that the bulblets are infected even if they are not showing signs. Others will have to chime in but if you think they are not affected maybe separate them from the mother bulb. Insect activity can slightly mimic the virus pics we have seen but not completely. Good luck it is so hard when these signs are seen and heart breaking to completely give up on a bulb.

Maybe I'm just sentimental.

AJ

Does anyone have photos of insect damage that looks similar to virus symptoms? I'd be interested in seeing them.

What a range of opinions here. From posters saying my leaves don't look too bad, maybe it's insects, to the last poster saying someone's bulblets could be infected with virus without showing any signs. As a scientist I'm beginning to think that visual inspection is a very poor diagnostic test for virus in Hippis.

I sent a whole bulb including leaves from my patch off for testing by electron microscopy yesterday. Leaves are a bit worse than in my picture above, no signs of mealybugs in tunic or on roots. I'll post photos and results when available.
Ruth

Ruth,

I have some pictures of thrip damage to several plants, as least that was the consensus from this forum. We bought an insecticidal spray and also gave these plants a good drench as well as the spray. This was I'd say a good 6 weeks ago maybe more. I segregated these 4 plants and continued to grow them and feed them out in the summer sun and all subsequent leaves were entirely clear. Now one thing that is noticeable now that I have had virused leaves and seen others virused leaves, is that the insect damaged leaves had white lines, not yellow as my and others virused leaves showed. These four plants continue to be fine and since the spraying and drench there has been no problem.

Thrip damaged leaves:
{{gwi:421782}}From What's wrong with these leaves!!

{{gwi:421784}}

You can see the difference with these leaves that I believe are virused, the yellow and mottling.....

{{gwi:426555}}

Hope this helps,

Donna

Ruth,

I'm not trying to muddy the waters but I guess I am. I got concerned about all the talk of viruses and inspected my leaves carefully. I recently got a bonus bulb with a purchase that had fully grown leaf. On initial inspection I decided the plant needed fertilizer to provide nitrogen. With the mosaic virus influx I looked at the plant again and thought it was infected. I was saddened but the new growth did not have any problems. On closer inspection there were spots of red in the middle of small light green splotches. I determined this plant had been chewed on by some small bugs. I wonâÂÂt be able to get a good picture during the day till this weekend as I am not home during daylight hours. But I will get some pictures of the leaf damage and post them for you to check out.

I am not saying anyone should take the conservative wait a little while and see approach if they are positive the plant is infected. But if you are uncertain the plant is contaminated I would personally wait a short period of time. As I do not sell hippies and thus cross contaminate other plants this is a good approach for me. Wow I did not plan on being this wordy tonight :)

AJ

Excellent pictures, Donna. It is easy to see the differences there. Thank you.

Anyone have photos of mealybug damage?
Ruth

Here are my photos of insect damage that looks similar to virus symptoms on first glance. The symptoms were more pronounced before I fertilized it and the healthy green color was mostly restored.

This is the initial view.
{{gwi:430189}}

On closer inspection you can see faint red dots in the center of discolored areas.
{{gwi:430190}}

The new leaves
{{gwi:430191}}

This was a bonus bulb I receive and the best partâ¦.. it is a Papilio cross. Papilio x Doris Friday, I do not know what a Doris Friday looks like but it doesnâÂÂt matter the Papilio will make the cross wonderful no matter what!

AJ

Very interesting, thank you. I'll have to get out my magnifying glass and look for red spots. I'm still waiting for my electron microscopy results.
Ruth

Final result by electron microscopy - filamentous virus particles in Hippeastrum but not strawberry. Leaf sent was similar to the one pictured here in OP, but more of the discoloration. (I didn't know if I should post here or start a new thread with these results. I started a new thread, to bring more attention to the virus issue, but then decided to post here too for completeness of this thread. Hope no one minds).

Here is a link that might be useful: other post