I saw the same thing on Hosta Francee at Home Depo in Minnesota. This one was horribly infected and I decided I won't buy any hosta at any of the home centers.

Maybe I'll just hang tight with the hosta I have.....
But I do have a lust for a couple....
We'll see....
I am thinking the bestw ay to aquire new hosta is to trade with trusted friends....or buy from a garden where you can see everything they grow.
Linda c

I was just out in my garden and I'm pretty sure my "So Sweet" from last year is infected. I purchased it from a very large in-town reputable grower (Linders) and will return it, since they do indeed guarantee their stock.

Needless to say, I'm upset about it, but it's not the first time I've spotted HVX.... Home Depot, Lowes, garden centers... it doesn't seem to matter. I think a keen and educated eye is the best way to keep this pest out of our prized collections.

I've seen many stores in this area that have hosta with obvious signs of HVX (even to me who knows little about it). I pointed it out to a garden center employee at one store and she knew nothing about it but did say that she would look into pulling the plants I pointed out with lots of "inkbleed". Most were Gold Standard. I started looking at pots and found that several stores with suspect plants all came from the same supplier. It is out of Holland Mi. I think the name was Zelinski (or something close). Anyone heard of them?

I am a newbie to this forum. Thank you for the HVX warning. I went to the website to see the damage it does. I purchased a hosta at Lowe's today, here in extreme northeast Ohio, so will have to check it out tomorrow when it is light. I really enjoy this forum, I have learned quite a bit. My daughter and I got into hosta about four years ago. I'll keep lurking!

I was at a garden center this weekend, that had a nice selection of hosta, I noticed one variety of hosta with HVX, and decided never to go back. Is it worth our time to talk to the manager? I chose not to, as I was with my sister from out of town. My mistake!

The early symptoms of HVX can just look like stressed out and beat up plants. I don't know about you but I am used to seeing plants at the home center type of stores looking rather stressed, banged up etc....
But look carefully...you can tell a banged up plant from a one with a virus if you look carefully.
There were a couple at walMart today that looked suspicious...not definite...but I'll not be buying them.
Linda C

Welcome 'conel946'! Glad you stepped out to comment on this forum! Hope you will be inclined to speak up even more as you feel comfortable with the 'regulars'! :o)

I spoke with the manager of a foremost nursery in the general area (a bit of a drive but would not have kept me from returning), before making the trip! I told her that due to the increasing problem of HVX in the industry, I have become rather particular and careful about my hosta purchases and that even more than the HVX, I am concerned not to introduce any further nematodes to my garden!! I have had them show up in some hosta and fern I've acquired (So far, they have not appeared on any other hosta other than the ones I found them on initially and I took extreme measure in dealing with them when I found them)!

She assured me, that they were very much *on top* of the virus, and that their plants are tested regularly for it and that I could have confidence in shopping with them.

Well-----if they are *on top* of it, I don't know how they could have missed the ones I saw, definitely infected. I'm no expert, but it doesn't take one long to truly recognize the most obvious of signs, the 'bleeding out' along the veins, usually a darker green than is usual for the plant, the yellow spotting along the veins, the gnarly and deeply pock-markings that are not customary for the hosta!

So--I passed on an awesome looking 'Hanky Panky', 3 eyes and beautiful, and priced at $20! It may have been fine, but how can I know--it may not present itself for years and then what? They would not take it back then! And, I run the risk of infecting my garden, if not by not being really careful, then by squirrels running through and breaking leaves, and caring the sap with them through the next hosta they encounter on their romp!

Sigh! I know it is a terrible thing for the industry to deal with! I know, that the individual nurseries are as much a victim as we are, and on a much larger scale--but, to say you are taking every possible measure to protect the consumer, and then to obviously be 'missing the boat' as I saw is a total lack of integrity IMO!

Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Meijers--all of them are victims and know little about the plants they sell. They are warehousers not nurserymen, but the nurseries should be more responsible to their customers!

HVX, is not the end of the world, in a garden, but it sure is a nuisance and ruins the appearance and perhaps the vigor of a most wonderful plant that I love!

I'm at the point where I can't buy hostas in my city any more because both of the nurseries are carrying hosta with HVX. I first noticed it on Sum & Substance at a nursery about a month ago. Yesterday while we were out shopping for other plants, we revisted the same nursery and I couldn't resist checking out the hosta. Well, now EVERY SINGLE hosta is showing obvious signs of HVX. I was tempted to take pictures... they would have been perfect examples to people who had never seen it. If the nursery isn't educated about HVX, they have to wonder what is happening to their hosta?? They're infected to the point that they're looking mutant. I've neglected mentioning anything to them before, but I will the next time I visit.

We moved on from there to the second nursery, which I thought was HVX free... then I looked at Sum & Substance.
It's depressing to think that I'll have to travel or order online everytime I want a new hosta.

So is there a list of online nurseries where you can be sure to get hostas free of this virus? After reading this thread, I don't think I'd buy any hostas locally anymore. Even good nurseries buy in bulk from mass growers. So who is it safe to buy from?

re: So is there a list of online nurseries where you can be sure to get hostas free of this virus?

Hallson's for one! He's truly 'on top of it' with that virus!
I'd feel very confident as a returning customer!

Here is what I am doing. No more big box stores of any type. Again, bulk sales of hosta at this time lacks the controls to keep sick hosta off the retail shelves. I would be interested in on-line nurseries that work hard to keep HVX out of their fields. This is in itself a major task, because HVX is showing up even from wholesale growers (the Dutch) that guarantee HVX free stock. The only on-line source I trust right now is Hallson's Gardens. There have to be others, but I am not aware of them and I know that Chris Wilson is proactive in the elimination of HVX. I will continue to shop locally for hosta, and I have purchased locally recently. This was a smaller family run nursery and their hostas looked healthy. That is all you can do. Once I see anything questionable at a local nursery, they get crossed off my list. I think, at some point, some of the mass growers that supply the big box stores will see the need to stop shipping hosta with obivious symptons of HVX. This may be two years in the future. Some of these growers will continue the status quo as long as they are not getting complaints. No complaints, no need to change how they do things.

Jeff

Several times I have been wrong on my concern about a HVX infested hosta. As Hey J said, inkbleed on a gold variegated hosta is a dead give away. Solid colored hosta are sometimes harder to detect visually. I have a H. Big Daddy that has deep puckering and I got worried one day when I thought I saw too much puckering in one area leading me to think it had sunken tissue. It turned out to be just a lot of puckering. That is why you need to study the pictures of HVX on the Hosta Library. Hosta can be discolored due to freeze damage, and a host of other things. I have seen several Sum and Substance with an unusual lighter colored stripe looking thing that runs left to right from one vein to the next. Could be something wrong, but probably not HVX. So, again educate yourself and try to buy healthy looking hosta. Stay away from discolored anything.