Sorry, I went MIA (and this new Houzz format sucks!)

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

To make things short and (bitter)sweet, I bought a few hoyas from a supposedly trustworthy Thai vendor (whom I shall not name). They went through customs without issue, looked fine upon arrival, and continued to look great throughout their 3 week quarantine in my house.

I moved them into the plant room after their quarantine, and over a few weeks, started noticing troubling issues. Their leaves became blotchy, and rings started appearing. New growth failed to mature and wilted quickly.

I quickly removed them from the plant room, took samples from the leaves and forwarded them to the WSU extension.

Capsicum Chlorosis Virus.

I am devastated. Those 15 unhealthy plants darn near damned my collection. It did not help matters when I noticed I had a few scale on a couple of other plants. Scale is usually a non-issue for us Hoya enthusiasts, unless it's a massive infestation, OR if you have a disease or virus that is spread by sucking critters (which I did).

The amount of plants that became affected was moderate; over half my collection. Losses include many of the rarer species, undulata, hamiltoniorum, cutis-porcelana, and most of my seedlings.

Anyone who has received plants from me is SAFE! The infected plants were bought in February of this year, long after any trades, group orders, or ebay sales were done.

Needless to say, until I am completely satisfied that no more plants have been affected, I will not be buying or selling, for everyone's plant safety.

On top of everything, work and family has me

very busy, but I will try to drop by more often, to at least give advice and help!

Featured Answer

Staci Przybysz-Lawrence

7 years ago

Glad to have you back!

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Comments (14)

Carolynnv
7 years ago
I am so sorry for all you have been through. Having purchased from you, I know how careful you are. Welcome back, and I hope you are back to stay!
Lydia Kennedy
7 years ago
Hey! Nice to have you back! You've been missed!
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Mark Weisenstein
7 years ago
You certainly have been through a horrible time. I'm sorry that you had all that to deal with. Welcome back, it's nice to see you again.

Marco
kingd Z6A michigan
7 years ago
That is one of my worst fears,So sorry to hear about it. Happy to have you back
triffidmoss
7 years ago
I'm sorry to hear about your plants :( But I was so happy to see your post! I was worried about you. Hope all is well with everything else.
Staci Przybysz-Lawrence
7 years ago
Im glad to have you back :) but sorry about your plants :(
aurorawa
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
It's certainly been a learning curve! Things I thought I'd never do, I ended up doing (I treated every plant remaining with everything I had- anti-bacterials, fungicides, insecticides, miticides, etc., thus they will remain indoors for quite some time, so I don't hurt any beneficial critters).

Eventually, I'll replace what was lost, but for now, I am grateful for what has survived!

Thanks for the empathy, and again, I am sorry for just disappearing. It was a stressful ordeal, combined with the everyday stress of life, and I needed to just get away from it all.

I also made my Facebook private and deleted everyone, including groups. No offense to anyone; it had nothing to do with the plant issues. There were just a bunch of people I didn't know trying to friend me; people with Ebay issues were contacting me on FB instead of Ebay; and some random strangers (no one ya'll know- hopefully) were asking for things they should not have been asking for (freebie plants were not the only thing asked for...ewww).

I don't mind chatting here and sharing photos here, and will continue to do so (when I have the time), but from now on, my Facebook will be off-limits, for privacy reasons, and for my sanity.

As soon as I am confident that my plants don't have any further issues, I will replace my favorites that were lost, and eventually, I may start trading. I don't think I'll be selling any time soon (to busy with my "real job"), but perhaps, in the future?
Lydia Kennedy
7 years ago
Ah, the fb pervs lol I'm happy fb gave us a bit more privacy options......if I ever post of something you lost, I'd be happy to send a cutting. I don't have rareties but am happy to share what I do grow.
moonwolf_gw
7 years ago
Hey lady! Glad you're doing okay. I'm hanging in there and my plants are bouncing back from this rough winter we had. Lost a few, or some turned into shells of their former selves. Been dealing with life, too. Glad you could pop in and say hello.

Brad AKA Moonwolf
Denise
7 years ago
What an ordeal! If you don't mind, Aurora, would you please post a photo of what this virus looked like if you took photos? I ask because last year, I lost my large and very old aldrichii to some weird thing that left yellow spots you could barely see (like they were under the "skin" of the plant) until you held it up to the light. It started with the new growth (which was otherwise fine) then seemed to start working its way back into the old leaves. I finally gave up and threw it out, but now I'm worried it could show up elsewhere. And BTW, I think you should name the vendor, unless you think it's possible it got in the box on the way to you. I don't buy from any of the Thai vendors, but I know many do. Your experience would make me hesitate to buy from ANY of them... BTW, what is a plant anti-bacterial?

Denise in Omaha
amaranthineglow
7 years ago
wait. i have to know. was it ah hoya?

and nice to see you posting again...sorry about your collection.
gvargo883_mst
7 years ago
That sounds awful. I lost 90% of a Thai order once but that's because of my own inexperience at the time, not disease, so it was a little easier to bear. Sorry for the mess you had to deal with.
aurorawa
Original Author
7 years ago
Sorry it took so long to reply! I'm finally in a place in my life where I have more free time to enjoy the forum again!

It has definitely been a wild ride, for sure. Luckily, I have replaced almost all of the ones I lost.

I won't name the vendor because they are very well-known an respected, and I fear backlash. It is NOT Epiphytica, Aleyagarden or AHHoyas!

Denise, I didn't take pictures, I was devastated; I took a leaf off EVERY plant I owned, and sent them to the UW Extension.

The virus looked exactly like you'd expect. Tiny yellow dot followed by green ring, followerd by larger yellow ring. It looked like a mis-shapen bullseye.