Unfortunately the Lowes here I'm seeing HVX virus on many of them.

HVX here to

I've seen HVX at 2 Wal-Marts!

All you people think about is HVX. I still have never gotten an HVX plant from Lowes,and I sure wouldn't buy one if I saw it! Nuff said! Phil

Yes think about it because it's very serious and still out there at the majority of big box stores! Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not infected, can take some time before the infection is obvious to the eye. However if there are infected plants among the bunch here and there I avoid it like the plague for obvious reasons.
If you got healthy plants great Phil, however from what I seen over here in my neck of the woods I'm steering clear.

I didn't spend any time looking at the hosta at Lowe's because supposedly I don't need any more hosta (thought I feel I really should be able to sneak a replacement 'Francee' in under the DH ban!)

However  the Walmart in Fairfax, VA near Chantilly was crawling with HVX. There was no point at all in trying to find a manager; I couldn't even find an employee.

Wal-Mart Store #2015
13059 Fair Lakes Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22033
(703) 631-9450

And that's the info I'll give at the link below, when they fix their form, which isn't working today. And be warned: it will only accept 5-digit zip codes, not the extended ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Walmart Store Corporate Complaint Form

Let me put it to you this way hummer! HVX is always my least worry. The weather has always been my biggest effector of hosta trouble. After that comes voles,which I've had in the past,but only when I tried to amend the soil in a new bed,by composting and adding black soil. Voles like to dig in soft earth. My red clay is hard enough for me to dig in with implements! No offense to anyone out there,but that's MHO on HVX! I have what a lot of people don't,and that is not a scientific term,but it's a green thumb! lol! Phil

Is it possible to take pics of them?
It would be great to send pics of the hostas
along with pics and info about the disease.

No hostas from big box stores for me (I don't know from where they came and whether or not they were inspected). I want stuff grown in the old U.S.A. and if possible locally. If not locally, I will order very rare ones from Jim's or NGP, or such via websites.

Yes,I will take pics of them,Sassy. As soon as I can get out there. They are healthy,or I wouldn't buy them. I have an Enchantment hosta that I got at Wal-Mart back in 2003,and it's still one of my best hostas ever! Maybe there is a lot of HVX at big box stores,but you don't have to BUY them!! I have over 260 hostas,and they are all good,so what can I say? Phil

Sorry Phil, I meant the question for Lisa. I was talking on the phone the same time I was trying to add a post and sent it without reading it first to make sure that it made sense. Sorry for the confusion.

What I meant to say was this...Lisa, if you could take
some pics of the diseased hostas that you saw at Walmart and send the pics along with info & pics of HVX to the complaint dept, I think it would make more of an inpact. They need to know how serious this disease is and stop buying from their supplier immediately. Of course there's
always the threat that you may notify everyone on the internet to boycott their nursery dept. lol

I plan to carry a camera in my purse each time I go to those stores listed above. If I see HVX you can be sure
that the higher ups will know all about what they're selling. My 1st call will be to the county plant inspector
for that county. I'm a born activist I guess.

oh, no!!! ... i bought a sum & substance today at home depot ... BUT ... i have no idea what hvx looks like ...

what should i have looked for? ... i haven't planted it yet ...

is there somewhere on this forum that i could look for a picture of this virus? i have quite a few hostas, but, really & truly i guess i don't know much about them ...

i won't plant it 'til you experts share your advice with a relatively new hosta lover ... thanks, phyl

i had not yet gotten to the post from friday at 8:46 on hvx ... i read the link provided with great trepidation ... good lord, i am soooo not ever buying a hosta again! see ya later alligator, phyl

I saw the HVX pictures on the link, and those plants definitely look diseased. Even without knowing about HVX I wouldn't have bought those plants: I would have thought they were sickly.

Can you recognize HVX in its earlier stages? Just less of the same effects: lighter patches, thinness between veins, puckering where it doesn't belong?

I'm not saying its right to buy from the big box stores, but I'm kinda with Phil on this one. I have been buying hostas from walmart, lowes and home depot for years and never have I got a diseased plant. Today I went to Lowes and bought Francee, Potomac Pride, Thunderbolt (which is simply beautiful) and Bressingham Blue. Ironcially I do have a plant in a container which I suspect MAY be infected, but I don't see how, as it is one of my own two or three year old seedlings that I grew myself and has been in a container all its life.

So far, the only HVX plant I have CONFIRMED was bought from a high end local nursery. It was a Sum & Substance. All my hostas are fairly young. They are all potential HVX...

From my vantage point I can't be any more mad at Lowes than the local nursery.