Hi Tina,

I wouldn't put them in the yard waste bin for fear that it may go to a communal composting center and contaminating it. Here in Cambridge MA we have a collection system that takes both plant and Meat scraps and send it off to a nearby composting facility that distributes the finished product to others. The only problem is that I don't think that the compost heap gets hot enough to destroy the virus and it ends up spreading indefinitely. I would just throw it out in the trash or better yet, incinerate it if your municipality allows it.

Thanks Fred. No incineration here... California doesn't go that route (I don't know anyone with a burn barrel). I definitely need to take action before more bulbs are infected. So sad to see so many plants affected.

Hi Tina,

Believe me I know :-((( I have had to destroy so many beautiful hippies that were one of a kind and boy was I angry.

Tina,

Over the years I have lost dozens of beautiful plants. I had an Estrella that is rare and it was so lovely but heavily virused when I acquired it as a mislabel before I even knew what the virus was!! I too, feel your pain.....

Donna

It appears that some plant viruses are killed by heat, much as having a fever can help kill viruses when we're ill. I'm trying to decide if I want to try to heat treat bulbs to see if the virus can be eradicated. I've successfully used my sous vide immersion cooker to kill critters in bulbs after systemic insecticides didn't work. I was thinking I could try heat treating the virused bulbs to see if the virus could be killed by high (112-115 range) temperature. If I do that, they'll need to be grown in quarantine for next season, away from everything else (I might see if my mom would care for them at the far end of her backyard- there are no other amaryllises near there). When signs of virus have shown up, it's usually at the end of the season, so I probably wouldn't know early in the season if it worked.

What did you do in the end, Tina? Have you tossed them all? Or are you still deciding if you will do some experiments on them?

Tina, warming the bulbs from the virus does not help, especially at home conditions.

The virused bulbs are going to be pulled from the collection this week, while I'm on vacation. I'll dispose of them in the garbage. I recently read that TMV can survive temperatures over 300 degrees F. Because it affects so many different plants, I wouldn't want the plant material to go into the compost bin that is picked up by the garbage haulers (to be converted into mulch). I'll need to use disposable gloves and discard those too... don't want to pass TMV into the remaining bulbs. :(

I'll be pulling my other bulbs and cleaning them for storage. I've done a terrible job of bringing bulbs in during winter for the past several years. As a result, I lose a lot of bulbs each year. I'm going to try to not be so lazy this year!

Just threw a couple Nymphs into a public garbage bin suspected of mosaic virus that I had quarantined for the whole season. Only the initial leaves had faint mosaic-like patterns back in early Spring, but later leaves did not display any patterns. Finally, while potting new bulbs, decided it was better to be safe than sorry plus I needed the space.

It was heart wrenching to throw several big pots of bulbs in the bin, but it was for the "greater good". I'll have to be on the lookout next year to see if there are any obviously virused bulbs remaining in the collection.

What does this virus look like,any pictures??

The leaves on my bulbs look similar to the photo Brian posted. Unfortunately, mosiac virus doesn't seem obvious until mid to late summer... so that gives plenty of time for it to spread. :(