The Truth About Hosta Virus X

Hosta Virus X or HVX as it is known by its acronym is a dangerous, contagious virus that is killing hostas in both North America and Europe. It first started showing up in North America about five years ago when mutated looking plants with strange markings and mottled leaves started growing in nurseries and home gardens.

Hosta Virus X was not detected for a long time at first because at first it was thought to be a new sport of hosta. For those of you who are not hosta fiends, a hosta sport is simply a new variety of plant. Some of these infected plants were even named and sold in the U.S. and Britain. The virus also infected the large growing fields of Holland where most of the hostas sold in the world are grown. Examples of new plants that were actually named even though they were just infected are Leopard Frog, Breakdance and Lunacy varieties of hosta.

In North America there are two very popular varieties of hosta that are known to be widely infected with this virus. This includes the chartreuse variety Sum and Substance and the yellow variety that can tolerate sun called Gold Standard.

Why are people being sold infected hosta plants to this day even though growers and nurseries know that the Hosta Virus X exists? The problem is that the plant will not display any symptoms that it is a carrier of the virus for up to 3 or 4 years. The plant can be a carrier of the virus and still look normal during this time.

Symptoms of Hosta Virus X include dark blue or black veins that look like ink bleeding marks on Kleenex. Other symptoms are mottled and discolored leave. There may be bleached looking patches on green or blue leaves or dark green blotches on yellow leaved hostas.

This virus is also very hard to get rid of. It lurks in the sap of the plant affecting the roots, leaves and stems. If you think you have a plant infected with this contagious plant disease then uproot it immediately and throw it into your garbage or even better burn it. Do not throw it onto your compost heap as that is a place where the virus can be recycled back into your garden. As long as you are able to remove every single bit of dead tissue from the ground that belonged to the infected plant you should be okay. Make sure that you wash the tools you used to dig up diseased plants with bleach so you don't infect other areas of the garden as well.

Yet another way to prevent Hosta Virus X from spreading is to not buy any plants that are displaying symptoms of the disease from a grocery store, nursery or garden center. Always be sure to buy your hosta plants from a reputable hosta dealer. Many of the commercial growers limit their sources to those who have very high standards of disease and pest control. This along with constant monitoring of their growing areas tends to keep Hosta Virus X limited to those who decide NOT to employ these higher growing standards.