Please tell me how hosta virus X has affected your garden. I have dug up two hostas planted last year that I think were infected -- they had puckered leaves that shouldn't have been seersuckered and discoloration along the veins. One was a Stiletto bought at Lowe's and the other a So Sweet bought elsewhere. Extension agents in Kansas and Missouri (I am on the border of the two states) report the virus is a definite concern here. Do you think this disease will wipe out all of our hosta gardens? Have you been affected, and how much? I am told the virus is spread mechanically, by tools that tought the sap of the infected plant and brush it on another plant. I sprayed rubbing alcohol on the spade I used to dig up the two.
Do you have any pictures of this problem virus. Also, have you heard of the hosta called spilt milk?? I would love to know where I can get it at. I am in Montreal Canada. mielle33
Here is a great Web site to see pictures of infected hostas and also see pictures of hosta varieties: www.hostalibrary.org. Others can help with a Canadian hosta source, I bet.
So far no sign of infection on any of my hosta. A Canadian source for Spilt Milk is www.gardensplus.ca (in Peterborough, Ont.).
I will share some information I got in an e-mail from Jon Appel, plant pathologist for the Kansas Dept of Ag: "This year, we found it in about 1 of 4 locations and probably about the same in varieties or cultivars, 1 of 4. We found it in well over 20 locations which were in the eastern half of the state but I don't think western Kansas is immune to it. ... we found it in the major wholesale material coming from such states as Oklahoma, Michigan, California and Oregon. We also found it in imported material directly from the Netherlands and also at local producers." I am afraid how easily our gardens might become infected, since the disease may not show symptoms immediately. A plant might look ok at the garden center but start showing signs (mine did) weeks or months later.