Came across an article on this forum about Hosta Virus X. In the article there was a picture of Striptease with the disease and a statement that this hosta was basically patient zero and that most of the plants distributed commercially were infected. Sure enough, armed with HVX knowledge I investigated and found that my striptease was infected. I received this plant in a trade more than a decade ago. It has not been exposed to any other hostas over this entire time, and has been container grown. Very very sad.

I dumped the whole plant (soil included) into a contractor bag and put it out in the trash. I scrubbed the ceramic pot out with bleach and will let it bake in the sun for a few weeks before replanting. Went to Hallson Gardens to order a replacement (because this was one of my favorite plants), but wow these are expensive. $26 with shipping!

Hard to believe it grew and thrived all of these years and I had no idea it was diseased. Looking at the photos from the HVX article, there was no doubt my plant was infected.

:(

Cheers,

Werner