looks like pebbling on mature plants ...

first you ID the plants ... then you compare with pix in the library ...

and it might be hard to ID a standard green.. unless its supposed to be lancifolia ...

it could be cold.. but it awful consistent across the plant... and that isnt usually the case... with cold but not freeze ...

wait.. the last pic.... are those supposedly the same plant...

you might want to ignore all the above.. lol ..

ken

If it's a virus, it doesn't look like one that's transmitted by bugs. If so, you lose nothing by waiting. Just be very careful not to cut it or do anything that would transmit the sap to another hosta. Anything you do with tools around it, make sure you sanitize the tools by washing with dawn detergent or spray with lysol or use a 10% bleach solution (hands are tools, too).

If it's a virus, it will still be there on the second flush of leaves. If it's cold damage, then new leaves will look fine.

Good luck.

bk

Thanks all. I'll wait to see what the second flush brings. I just started reading about viruses and freaked out!

Steve, I did the same thing last year. I went through my entire collection wondering about every bump and sunburn and extra corregation I saw. Worried myself silly for nothing.

I don't see anything on yours to worry about but I am no expert. As bkay has said, be carefull with the ones you are concerned about and see what happens next season. After a while you become better at recognizing problems. I was on a Hosta tour on the weekend and recognized what I am sure what HVX. We informed the property owner (this was just a location we stopped at on the tour, not a hosta gardener) who had quite a few hosta but he just said, talk to the gardener. It was sad because there were multiple hostas affected and apparently he had not allowed the gardener to remove them.

Barb

Like Ken says, it's pebbling on mature plants. The older the plant gets the more wrinkles, same as with humans.

I have a very old Lancifolia which defies wrinkles...however, the veins are more pronounced with age. I don't think wrinkles exist in her DNA, lol.

but he doesnt know if it is lancifolia ...

do be aware .. i was speaking about hvx ... which i dont hink it is.. but it might be some of the others ... but i really am no expert in them ...

ken

Trying to help with ID... Last picture, hosta on the right looks like Lancifolia....with a bit of pebbling.

Steve, remiss of us...WELCOME to the hosta forum! Please do update us when you see any change. :-)

I will keep an eye on it and give an update. I believe it is Lancifolia after looking into it. Thinking back now I remember that the eyes were damaged, sort of crushed, by the dirt and some pieces of the clay pot that broke. In the morning I'll get more pictures of the bed.

And thanks again!

i wish chris or Steve mass were still around

ken

We can always get Chris. Just ask.

I miss Steve mass, too.... and Pieter,,, and Paul mn..

bk

I'm still here... just not too frequently. Haven't done much in terms of pictures this year, never mind not liking the way pictures are included in posts since the take-over. As I told Steve in response to his posting on the AHS forum, I see nothing in these pix that looks like a virus...

Pieter

How do I get to the AHS Forum. Didn't even know there was one!

-Babka

The plant on the right looks like a normal lancifolia and the plant on the left looks like an HVX infected lancifolia. Your Patriot isn't showing symptoms, but virus infected Patriot almost never show symptoms, making it a problematic plant out there as everyone looks for symptoms but this one (and Francee and Minuteman) rarely shows any.

If it had been frost damage it might have been damage on the first flush of foliage only, that outer ring, but not into the next 4 or 5 flushes of foliage. Even the newest leaves are showing some distortion. This isn't normal pebbling by any stretch for lancifolia but this is one of the many looks that HVX can take on different plants.

And yes, where is the AHS forum?

so now .. the only question is... do you know how to deal with such??? . ... so as to not infect other plants ...

ken

http://www.americanhostasociety.org/forum/index.php

Is this the link you are looking for?

Jackie

I just went from happy to sad. There are a few leaves on the hosta to the right with similar damage. I guess I need to pull all three?

I went outside to take a look at the plant. Unfortunately the new emerging leaves had the same symptoms. I ended up pulling all three plants since the plant to the right had a few leaves showing the same symptoms.

The plants went straight into the trash. The shovel was cleaned with a Clorox solution and will sprayed down two more times for precautions. Being as paranoid as I am I may end up getting a new shovel too.

My next question is how long do I have to leave the bare spot hosta less? The void that is left will make a great home for a new specimen plant.

Once again, I thank you all for your help.

How about a nice Heuchera?

It's a shame to lose them and Barb is right, plant something other than a hosta in that spot. The jury is still out on how long HVX survives in the soil but from what I recall 24 months at least seems to stick in my brain.

Pieter

I'm just worried about the other plants that were next to the ones I pulled. It does not appear that there is anything going on though.

It will give me a chance to plant something else in that bed that is dominated by hostas, which will make it more interesting. I am worried though about the dirt in the area. I guess I don't really know how this virus works it's magic. Also is there something I can do to try to kill it such as boiling water, etc?

There isn't much that will survive boiling water, not sure about viri but certainly nematodes won't. If you wanna play it safe do not re-use the soil the infected plants were in, do not compost it, if possible burn it or put it into the curbside garbage, same with the infected plants. Typical HVX transfer is by mechanical means, such as a knife or shovel used for division for example. The act of digging up the infected plants may well have left some potentially infected roots and if those roots were to come into contact with disturbed roots from the plants around them that could lead to viral transfer, likelihood of this happening are very slim given the apparent spacing you had.

You are right to be concerned about the virus surviving in the soil and you would certainly not want to replant another hosta there. Why not try Astilbes or Heucheras for a completely different texture and colour, or a couple of different Dicentras?

I would plant a fern, coral bell or the such in the empty space or a pretty rock or statuary.

Am I being paranoid now. This looks like sun damage on my sum and substance?

That appears to be sun damage to me too.

-Babka

yes.. you are being paranoid

ken

Finished up the bare spot that was left after pulling the two suspect plants.

Good solution.

bk

Looks nice!

That'll work...