They look fine to me. Isn't it a little too early to see nematodes? I would definitely quarantine them from the rest of the hostas for now. God luck.

Donna is right... If those BME's have nematodes, they will likely show up later in the season. If it is bacterial leaf infection you may see it sooner (I may have it in my Made You Look hosta - appeared as faint markings in July but more noticeable in August).

NHL, there is no harm in keeping them growing in their pots separately.

Two years ago I discovered nematodes (confirmed by this forum and the vendor I purchased it from) on Summer Breeze. In 2015 I did not see signs of nematodes. I am curious to see what this year brings. SB is still in the ground.... I decided not act when I discovered nematodes. If these BME hostas were mine, I would not do anything except monitor them.

I hope they will be fine. They look great!!

Hearty little dudes! Love those pips, they get me every time :)

Ditto what Donna said: If you choose to keep 'em, keep 'em quarantined.

Also use care that you don't cross-contaminate by handling them or with tools, sprinkle can/hose end etc.

Safely discard the dirt, do some sort of soak (?) for possible bacterial leaf infection and use fresh potting medium.

Only you can determine if these little guys are worth the extra care and worry over future potential troubles.

Good advice Donna, Jo and dgregory! I will keep them quarantined and will be very careful as to not cross contaminate. Part of me does not want to do any soaking or repotting, but just keep them as they are (rather like an experiment). The larger BME is in a spin out bag which is in the plastic bag. The smaller BME was just removed from the soil and plunked into the plastic soil bag. I suppose I will need to pot that one up after a soaking and with fresh media.

That's interesting about your Summer Breeze, Jo. Is it possible to have nematodes one year and then not the next? It will be very interesting to see how your Summer Breeze does this season.

What else I found interesting was that when I removed both these hosta last year and placed them into plastic bags, I left them outside---each one deeply placed into the bag not to allow any rain to be splashed onto other plants. The soil was quite wet and these bags stayed outside for the winter. I am surprised to see that the hostas have not rotted away with all that moisture, and have increased their number of eyes from last year. Currently, I have allowed the bags to be open on top, but they are in the greenhouse behind glass where no rain will penetrate. I hope to dry them out.

I've had instances of nematodes twice. Once in a plant from a vendor and once in a plant I'd had for a while. Unfortunately, they show up here in June. So, it's not something you can ignore and say, "It doesn't show up until the end of the season anyway." That's not the case here. I ended up tossing them both times, even though one of them was a plant that is difficult to replace.

Nematodes are everywhere. They are easy to get and impossible to get rid of. On the older plants, I think I got them from hanging basket ferns.
Huge ones are everywhere here in the spring for $9.95. I always buy some. I hung two of them above
some hosta. That's a mistake I won't make again.

Personally, I would toss the BMEs. A Blue Mouse Ears is cheap. They are easy to find. I would not risk contaminating my hosta for two Blue Mouse Ears.

jmho

bk

NHL, referring back to last year's thread, did you ever do the water/loupe test in the fall?

It's way too early to se visible signs of foliar nematodes in hosta foliage, I'd say late June/early July is when you're most likely to start seeing evidence. Keep 'em potted up and well away from other plants so that if they DO carry nems you're not taking a chance on spreading them.... The last picture looks like a nice-sized one, it'd be a shame to toss it....

Pieter

Unfortunately it took a very long time for me to get my magnifier. I tried to do the water/loupe test, but I think it was too late in the season Pieter. I didn't see anything. So I think I will leave the larger BME in its spin out bag away from other plants and see how it looks later on in the summer. My smaller BME was just dumped into the bag as I planned to throw it away. So I will do a bleach soak and pot that one up. It should be interesting to see whether nematodes or the leaf infection will appear later on in the season. I'll report back on the results!

I can't opine about nematodes, sorry but Holy Homemade Greenhouse! I really like your set up there! I want to put a long skinny greenhouse thingie along a wall just like that but I didn't think there would be enough room. Yours is inspirational! Here I was thinking I would have to actually walk into it, but it looks like yours is made just to walk along side it, sliding the windows open here and there wherever you need to. BRILLIANT!

Thanks Hostanista! At first there were two (slanted toward the sun) boxed shelves. We upgraded some of our windows and my husband said he could enclose the two wooden shelves to make a mini greenhouse---and that this would prolong the growing year. In winter we store some garden items in it. Then at the beginning of the season I put potted hostas in there to protect them from the squirrels and the frosted nights. Later I leave the smaller hostas that can tolerate more sun in that location, remove the windows and replace with window screen (or not). My husband insists there be some herbs too and you can see that the bottom box actually has some herbs there (rosemary and chives). I keep telling him we don't really need the herbs (because that would increase the hosta space)! But he's not buying it---and---well, he was the one who built it---so some herbs it will be!

NHL, good question....I haven't a clue. Maybe someone here might know if it's possible for nematodes to show up one year and skip the next. Like you, I am experimenting and will also share what I have learned as a result about SB and MYL. :)