Dear Donna,

There are a number of devastating, virulent pathogens to which Hippeastrum are vulnerable. Plants infected by viruses exhibit a wide range of symptoms. Flower color breaking is one symptom of plant virus. I concur with Maria and Josh that your Pink Diamond bulb is afflicted with virus. However, it may not necessarily be MV.

Today, I am suffering along with you; as I have with other dear friends like Del, Maria, and Becca who made the painful decision to destroy the bulk of their large and valuable collections. The cost was not simply monetary, as it also wiped out years of extensive hybridizing work.

To Maria's sage advice about obtaining bulbs only from the most reputable sources, I would add the importance of scrupulously maintaining hygienic tools and growing areas along with keeping a watchful eye out for virus vectors; primarily sap-sucking insects that transmit viruses as they feed and move from plant to plant spreading disease. Unfortunately, viruses cannot be cured.

With sincere sympathy and solidarity,

Blanca

Hi All,

I do appreciate all your feedback concerning my Pink Diamond. The reason I actually posted this picture was that I was so shocked to see this flower on a 4 yr old bulb that has always been healthy and has never display any adverse sign on the leaves..never! Even the first scape appeared normal although I only had two flowers as opposed to the normal four.

Blanca, I am deeply saddened to hear that you have been affected by this also, as I thought you were one of the few whose bulbs appeared to be immune to this..that you had to destroy many of your seedlings in heartbreaking..

I don't know why I find it so hard to part with these bulbs as each year I do loose as many as 10 bulbs to the NBF maggot..I've lost 20+ bulbs in the last two years alone. Now if I could just direct the NB fly to my virused plants...I guess I'm just going to have to muster up some courage..and deal with this..thanks again for all your input..

Donna

Dear Donna,

Virus hasn't affected my collection yet . So far, I think that I have been spared. However, in reality all I can say is that, despite vigilant observation, there are no visible symptoms. I meant that I have felt the tragic losses suffered by my friends empathically. Over the years, I have been blessed with wonderful and deeply meaningful relationships through this group. When you or others whom I care about hurt or suffer painful losses, so do I albeit vicariously. When the initial shock dissipates, you will be able to decide what the right way to handle the problem is for you and your gardening situation.

I send you fortitude and cyber hugs,

Blanca

Donna,while I have had similar damage on blooms from heat,cold and chemicals,this does appear to be a virus. In cooler weather the blooms sometimes manifest symptoms before the leaves.Hot weather often causes symptoms to appear on the leaves,after blooming season.It is better to burn a relatively easy to reobtain bulb than to take a chance on losing rare,one of a kind or promising seedlings of a breeding program.If you don't segregate with screen even smaller than window screen,there is a huge chance of all your plants being virused within two years,including some non Amaryllids,which may not be immune.
Del

I'm sorry to hear this, Donna. :\

And other than an occasional odd bloom what? Those of you with carefully chosen non-virused bulbs - how many times a year do your bulbs bloom? Once? Twice?

If it's so easy for virus to be transmitted in hippies, what do you do, keep them in isolation? Never outside? Drenched in chemicals or wrapped in a cocoon? Maria said "I garden to enrich my life and not to burden it." I agree and that means enjoying my blooms without worrying about every mark on a leaf.

I'll tell you that I had a gorgeous seedling last year that showed some of that mottled appearance on the flower. It was grown indoors from seed. Never exposed to anything. I don't think it was caused by virus, but if I put a photo up sure as shooting someone would say "that's virused". I think diagnosing over the internet is dangerous. There are experts on every forum who do it and are many times wrong, but people put their faith in them and destroy the plant. I had a rose expert tell me in no uncertain terms 100% that my rose had rose rosette virus. I didn't agree with her. Never even cut off the cane in question because I thought it was freeze damage. Guess what? I was right, but if I'd destroyed the plant I'd never have known.

I know this is going to be a very unpopular post, but that's how I feel.

To Maria, virus is a burden and myself as well. To ignore a problem doesn't make it go away.

I never suggested it would make the virus go away. You didn't answer my question though. Are unvirused bulbs better or more frequent bloomers? And I'm asking as someone who just wants plants to enjoy, not someone with aspirations towards selling my seedlings.

I have a Dancing Queen blooming right now. I bought it at Smith and Hawken about four years ago. It could easily be virused, but it's grown to huge size and puts out great blooms stalks. Maybe it's a clean bulb, but if it's virused and performs that way, I've really enjoyed it for four years and hope to have it for many more.

Jackie...As I have stated above..."It's your choice."
I choose to burn any plant that I see signs of "possible" virus. You choose to keep em. We are both happy in our own way.

Maria, well said, "we are both happy in our own ways"

Jackie,
In my opinion some bulbs handle the virus much better than others. I have an Estrella,(not to be redundant since I have mentioned this numerous times of this forum) that I have had for the better half of 5 years and only realized it was virused 2 years ago when this condition was brought to my attention and I reviewed pictures from the past (the leaves).
This particular bulb has never skipped a beat. Blooms twice a year (must be particular to this bulb) and with 2 stalks containing 4 to 6 flowers each and every time. No deterioration of the flowers at all. I choose to keep this plant far far away from my others and even though it's not one of my very favorites, it is rather rare these days and I just can't bring myself to part with it.

I think that certain bulbs will live with this condition for as long as it can escape the jaws of the Narcissis Bulb Fly maggot..each year I loose 10+ bulbs to this monster..

Others may succumb to this disease more rapidly and of course if not segregated can spread to the rest of our collections.
Some virused bulbs won't show any symptoms at all until stressed.. too much hot sun can bring it out in a instant. So, many of us with unstressed bulbs that summer in dabbled shade with a minimum of hot sun may be virused and we may never know it..all the while contaminating others while we obliviously enjoy our flowers and all the leaves canoodle with each other.

Those that live down South have an insect problem year round that we here up North don't have. Most of our bugs like to bite people not plant..of course we do have some..

So, we all do what we wish to do and knowing that we have a virused plant makes it much easier to make decisions as to how we protect the rest of our collection. It's the sleepers that can really cause the damage.

Where my Pink Diamond picked this up, I'll never know since I am very careful about where my virused bulbs reside. And, I am still wondering why the leaves appear to be totally normal.(the leaves are most always where you see the first signs..at least you have an inkling there is a problem) Like you, I do this for the enjoyment of the flowers and setting seeds.
Papilio appears to be immune, not to say that it can't be a carrier..

Enjoy your flowers and just take heed about where you place your suspected virused bulbs..that's all..:-)

Donna

Please don't hesitate to show us your creations..(if you want, crop the leaves out and no one will look at your leaves;-) we all love to see blooming seedligs...!!

There are very interesting questions. I have another, does the virus that impacts hippeastrums transmit to/from other types of plants?

Some of my outdoor bulbs are possibly virused. I am interested in understanding the ramifications before I decide whether or not to keep them.

I am choosing to grow landscape plants only, so mine cannot be protected in a safety zone. Even if my yard is clean, my neighbors' are probably not, and wind & insects spread disease. In FL, where we don't have a sufficiently cold winter to kill off insect pests, and summers are extremely humid, it is nearly impossible to find a beautiful landscape plant that is immune to pests & disease. Cannas, daylilies, narcissus, citrus etc, all have various issues - rust, viruses etc. Disease free here is not possible, but minimizing it is. I am choosing a combination of looking for resistant varieties, combined with non-toxic pest controls (neem oil etc).

I have developed an interest in heirloom & species plants because they are tough. They can either survive in spite of pathogens in their own systems, or are better able to fight off pathogens in their vicinity.

I absolutely understand collectors guarding their collections religiously. I however am not a collector. I am looking for plants that are long lived, put on a yearly show & are tough enough to survive as landscape plants. I'm still evaluating how hippeastrum viruses impact that equation.

Angela

Angela, One thing to consider is that where you now have virused bulbs growing in the soil, I do believe that soil will always be contaminated. So if you removed your virused bulbs and say a few years from now plant more hippies in the same spots, chances are the soil be still be contaminated. As for spreading to other varieties of plants, I'm not sure. I do know there is plenty of information on this forum and also on the Internet at large for you to gather information that may answer any questions you may have on TMV. I hope you don't smoke, because they say you can spread it from your hands after handling cigarettes!
And, there are far more knowledgeable people than I on this forum who may have answers for you also...

Good Luck,

Donna

Hi Donna. Thanks for the great info. I read up a bit on it and it is interesting that it is not the soil itself that harbors the pathogen, but rather the leftover bits of plant material in the soil. Practically speaking, it makes very little difference to the home gardener, removal of the virus from the soil sounds like it will be difficult to impossible.

Has anyone tried solarization as a way of removing this virus from a garden setting?

I saw information on steam sterilization that professional growers use - heating the soil to 200 degrees for 40 minutes or more. In FL, nematodes are a huge problem, especially for annuals like vegetables. One of the solutions is to put black plastic over the area in the heat of summer & cook the soil for a while - killing off pathogens like nematodes. I'm curious if this method would work to rid a patch of soil of hippeastrum viruses so it could be replanted with clean plants?

Angela

Jackie, it seems to me that you place little value on the advice of the people with the experience to help you,so I won't bother to answer any of your questions.I wish you well and hope that you have no close neighbors trying to grow a clean Amaryllid collection.
Angela, I believe that steam pressure autoclaving at above boiling temperature is the most sure method for killing the virus,but any heat close to that would reduce the virus population.I've used the plastic to heat the soil,but I used clear 6 mil plastic.Even then, it only held up a couple of months in this Florida sun.The ground has to be tilled first.
There is a very good reason I haven't been trading plants for nearly two years. I have had to destroy nearly thirteen hundred bulbs,due to recieving one bulb having mosaic virus and it being spread to most of the others by insects.I don't want it again,and as long as there is any small chance one of my bulbs could have it, I won't send out any bulbs.
I am trying to develop strains which would be resistant,but I also grow species,which are not immune,some of which are quite rare.

Npublici, was your collection in ground? I am sorry to hear you had such a loss. After using the plastic, are you able to plant new bulbs in the same spot and have them remain virus free?

Wow Del. That was the rudest thing I've ever heard. What makes you think you've got more experience that I have? You've emailed me privately in the past to ask about my Appleblossom seedlings even if you don't remember me.

I'm trying to get to the truth of an issue. If one bulb infected 1300 others in your collection then there is very little hope to ever keep them clean. Once again I ask, what is the worst thing that can happen with the virus. Roses also get mosaic virus, but can bloom normally and beautifully with it with only the pattern on the leaves.

It's unbelievable to me that we can't have a conversation about it, but don't worry. You've put me in my place.

Jackie,

We've had several conversations about it, your tone in your first post was apparent, I would say it was one of the rudest I've seen, Del's was truthful.

"Drenched in chemicals or wrapped in a cocoon?"

If you don't care about plant viruses than that is your choice but don't make us feel bad because we do, Del is just trying to help. He has first hand seen the effects of plant virus on his quite large collection. Donna's picture above is indicative of what virus can do as well.

The fact that it's OKAY for these Hippeastrum growers to sell virused plants is absurd.

There is nothing wrong with asking ques

After reading Del's response I went back and read my posts and there was nothing in them to elicit such a response as I'm not worth responding to. Maria's tone in her first post was rather chastising to Donna, scolding her for having the virused bulb and I asked for further explanation to why. And for the record, besides being condescending to me, none of you has actually answered the question.

No where did I suggest that it's okay to sell virused plants, BUT to that end, how would you know unless each plant was tested that it was clean or virused? If Del's 1500 plants were all affected by one virused plant and it's so volatile and easy to transmit then how DO you keep them clean? Thus the "drenched in chemicals or wrapped in a cocoon" comment.

Hi Guys, I just had written a very long well though out post and I had to look up the spelling of a word and in the process I lost my whole post. So here is the short version...

To answer Jackie's question as to the performance of virused bulbs, in my limited experience I would have to say that it does not effect the blooming abilities of the bulb.(If anyone disagrees please feel free to say so). Certain bulbs handle it better than others, but aside from its contagability (is that a word?)..it is purely cosmetic..(my opinion). Something else will most likely kill your bulb, NBF, plain old rot, stagonospora curtsii..there are many ways to kill a hippie bulb..I've done all of them., in fact I even cooked my Strawberry Blend in the hot sun!
I agree with everybody that is is outrageous to buy a bulb and several years later find it has infected your other bulbs..but,it happens all the time and.. it will continue to happen so we individually have to choose how to deal with it. I haven't the heart or the b+++s to destroy my sick bulbs..(yet). If I start to destroy my sick bulbs..where will it end? I'd have to start from scratch and I've got about 150 bulbs in pot, not to mention seedlings..I do my best and in the end something will most likely kill me before all my bulbs!

I'm thankful for all of you out there and all your opinions are valued..

Donna

Donna thanks for answering. I think as Northern gardeners we're in the same situation. I have over 300 seedlings that haven't been outside yet because a few years back I had the NBF attack some of the bulbs I put outside in the summer. There simply isn't room to continue to have them all inside, I just want to see all of them bloom before I decide what's worth saving!

Experts...experienced growers...

What does Veronica Read advice about virus bulbs?

What does Charles Barnhoorn (Hadeco)advice about virused bulbs?

What does the International Bulb Society advice about virused bulbs?

What would YOU advice most specially to all these newbies in here?

If you want to follow these advices or not it is all up to you. IT'S YOUR CHOICE!!!

I wash my hands and my conscience is clean.

I had most in the ground.I am hoping to, someday, have the money to remove and replace the soil.The problem is that no one but disposal sites wants comtaminated soil.The cost is high.I have never tried to plant bulbs after solarizing the soil. That was for vegatables. It did reduce the nematode population.Viruses require much higher heat.
I never learned to type,and even if I had, my fingers are badly arthritic,so I don't like to waste effort,because it is painful.I am a pragmatic person. I try to be helpful to any sharing my interest in plants,but I don't like telling people things they can find in the several forums archives,which have been stated repeatedly.I have no wish to hurt or denigrate anyone.I simply stated my wish to decline further advice which becomes irrelevant. I still feel that way.I am sorry if I hurt feelings by my bluntness.

I think that I have the jist of what Jackie is saying. There is no way to protect bulbs from this virus. If you keep them indoors you still introduce virus particles/insects every time you open the door or window especially when it is very windy.

I think back to a very windy day and coming into the house I saw a mimosa blossom blow in by me. That mimosa blossom comes from a tree that is one mile away because I know the man that owns it. Finer dust particles, insects, insect eggs could more than likely travel much further.

Other than keeping them in their individual glass case with separate filtered air supply you can't be 100% they are virus free unless you have a testing lab or there is one next door. I'm not that kind of gardener.

This is why I asked last year on this very board (under many protests) asked for people to send me samples of their virused bulbs or offsets. In particular I wanted bulbs that were dramatically visibly diseased.

There are techniques, additives etc that tobacco farmers here in South Carolina use against TMV. I used these techniques and the diseased bulbs this year are visibly normal.

Tobacco farmers have a high value crop ($ livelihood) unlike the hobbyist flowering bulbs (farmer's income) so they have been working on controlling TMV. No farmer will go out and destroy their crop because TMV shows up....they treat it.

Cannot say if the bulbs are "cured" but, I know the visibility of the bulbs are clean. A lot of the chemical antivirals that the farmers use on crops are not available to the general public but, alternative sources can be obtained if you know where to look.

Such as I wanted Colchicine for breeding my hibicus. It is expensive and hard to find. But, I found there is a large flower bed of autumn crocus out back (Colchicum autumnale)and making a tea of these bulbs produces the same polyploid effect.

One of the simple things is the farmers here wash their hands/tools in skim milk and spray tmv infected plants with a diluted skim milk in water. It has something to do with how the virus interacts with the proteins in the milk and inactivates the virus (temporarily).

Yikes, this turned into a flame war.

As a newbie, I would like to suggest that the front page of the FAQ be updated with some of the basics:

- What is the scientific name for the virus(es) that affect hippeastrums? I think there is more than one - how do they differ?
- What other plants can be infected?
- What other plants are carriers?
- What horticultural societies are studying them and making recommendations?
- What techniques do the forum users here recommend for:
a) keeping collections clean
b) dealing with infected plants
c) dealing with infected soil/tools

I went to the FAQ before posting my last question and the word "virus" does show up in there linked to some very long posts. Those posts were not easy to skim to find the scientific name of the virus(s). I'm still not clear which is which. It was easier to go out to google to learn more than to dig through the archives. Maybe some of the long time forum users could suggest some useful search terms for this topic. I found that "virus" was not specific enough. It brought up many threads, and was helpful for seeing pictures of diseased plants. But it was less easy to find specific information on disease names and prevention/treatment strategies.

And thanks to Donna, who I'm sure is getting emailed each time someone posts here, for continuing to speak with consideration and patience.

Angela

I think everyone just needs to take deep breaths, Jackie makes good points. For example everyone here consistently speaks of how very special "their" bulb collection is and therefore they must use chemicals of all type to protect the "collection", irregardless of how poisonous these chemicals may be to native bee populations, for example. It is plainly silly and shows these gardeners to be very shortsighted and uncaring of true native species- bees for example. Those who choose to burn their virused bulbs instead of chemically cocoooning them should be commended for their caring enough to not subject the native bees to the chemical onslot. Whatever people, really! Does it matter most to you to have a perfectly "pure?" collection of plant material irregardless of what survives in the native world? Frankly I would say it's time to get a grip on reality.

Last year all my forum friends agreed that most (almost 90%) of my bulbs were virus infected.
I chose to live with them and enjoy them as long as they last.
I have no regrets.
My Amaryllis bed is coming to life.

{{gwi:387995}}From Amaryllis 2012-24 March 2012

There are many articles in many publications that talk about the negative effects these viruses have, to write them off as non-important isn't truthful. If you choose to grow them such as arif that's one thing but to say you choose to cultivate the virus because you think it has no burden upon your plants or other populations of plants that are susceptible isn't accurate.

I have supplied several writings in this forum.

"Choose to cultivate the virus" is completely different than choosing to live with your bulbs and not destroy them. I'm in the same boat as Arif, so I guess you're okay with me too, right?

I asked one simple question about whether non-virused bulbs bloomed better or more often. In roses that are non-virused the contention is that they are stronger and do bloom better. In all the material I've read (and yes, I've read too) I haven't come across that. It's been written here that mother bulbs have a finite number of years before they decline (or need the basal plate trimmed for rejuvenation). As Donna said, something will end up killing it eventually so I wanted to know with all the hoops you need to jump through is it worth it.

Jackie,

I'm not quite sure whether you're asking so you can patronize the answers myself, Del and Maria would give or you're truthfully honest. Considering your first post and the tone you set for the rest of the thread it isn't surprising you got less than happy replies.

Thanks Arif for posting such beautiful pictures, we all really enjoy them :)

Josh

Ladies and Gentlemen, {{gwi:392344}}

I think we need to stop jumping down each other's throats each time someone says something that others deem as controversial.. this is indeed too hot a topic at the moment and we're really not accomplishing much other than animosity amongst ourselves.

My Pink Diamond and I apologize for starting all of this...
I'm surprised that no one has seems to have taken any interest in Twizzlesticks experiment!!??

Donna

Josh the only patronizing has come from you. I asked for honest answers but you're never going to give them.
I'm done. Donna I apologize for this being on your thread.

It's good that the topic is aired as it is important, so thanks for starting the thread. In my situation I wonder if it is even possible to isolate idividuals. You can see from the picture the growing conditions of this group of hybrids, all carefully labelled and recorded. The lemon-lime x dancing queen was grown in this plot, and if the virus is in the environment, then I don't really see what one can do apart from keeping treasured individuals quarantined as far as practicable. Maybe, like Magic Johnson, some of us will just have to live with it.

{{gwi:392345}}

I've been reading this thread with great interest. Thank you Donna for starting it thus providing new info and perspective - at least for me.

I agree with Angela, you are the heart and soul of this forum, always keeping your cool, always offering sound advice and your enthusiasm and encouragement is highly valued and appreciated.

Thanks Arif for showing us a picture of your outdoor garden with plants that are likely virused. It is very beautiful. I have many unrelated questions about your garden, I'll ask those on your thread.

npublici, thank you for the information. It is daunting to hear that soil removal may be the only way to truly clean a contaminated outdoor bed. If you ever try planting bulbs into a solarized bed to see if it helps, I'd be very interested in the result. In the mean time, your information makes my decision easier. Soil removal is simply not an option for me. So that means I will follow Arif's example and allow my outdoor bulbs to be beautiful if they can in spite of virus infection, and limit my trading to seeds.

twizzlestick, I'd be very interested in hearing more about your experiment. Maybe you could start a new thread to tell us about what you have tried, and what you've learned.

Angela

Twizzle,I didn't comment negatively on your plans to control or remove viruses from bulbs,because you didn't give any details. I still can't comment negativly.Since you are doing the equivalent of lab testing, I hope you have a place where you can truely isolate your bulbs and the neighbors plants from tmv.I was raised farming tabacco. I do not know of any process or treatment which will eradicate or prevent tmv in plants.There are things,such as skim milk,which seem to reduce symptoms. Unfortunately,smokers,chewers and dippers of tabacco have dispersed tmv over most of the earth.The growers have only held it down, so they can sell their product.It remains in the product.There are other viruses affecting Hippeastrum.
Del

Well lol I don't consider it lab testing since I really don't have a lab or access to one. Right on the viruses it can also be cucumber mosaic, hippeastrum mosaic, tomato wilt virus, sunflower mosaic, some deficiencies etc.
What I am saying is that what I did made the symptoms of the virus vanish...I haven't tested them. Also all hippeastrum have probably been exposed considering how many plants (100's-1000's) transmit these viruses. So much more than tobacco indeed.

I have houseplants that are indoors always and have found from time to time insects on them. Best to hope for is limiting possible exposure.

Anyway I learned from the farmers nearby that they use the 1/10 skim milk solution to spray TMV infected crops and it does limit the virus temporarily on crops/tools.

I took it a step further since hippeastrum do not need to be watered much I use the 1/10 spray of skim milk on them to water them always, spraying the foliage and the top of the soil lightly. All their watering is a diluted milk solution and no it doesn't smell or collect bugs. (Donna asked) :-)

Last year one of the farmers confided in me that he also uses a chemical antiviral on his plants and it helps them dramatically. He would not discuss what this is and I assume by what info I could get out of him that he is probably not on the up and up by using it. Could never get the name of the chemical he used from him.

What I did was look for antivirals locally and found few. What I ended up using was the skin of of ground walnut hulls but, sparingly mixed into the diseased hippeastrum soil (about 1/4 cup to a gallon pot). I say sparingly because while jugalone (chemical in walnuts) is antiviral it is also a plant growth inhibitor. Jugalone can be mixed strong and used as a herbicide as well.

I also used crushed juniper berries but, it didn't work as well and some virus symptoms still manifested although reduced.

I also lowered the PH of the growing medium from the 7 that was in the roots of the diseased bulbs to 5.5 with my own mix using aluminum sulfate in hopes that it might help the bulb shed the virus.

I grew the bulbs in my brother's basement window (next door) which our whole family use for storage and it is heated so plenty of warmth and light. I brought them out since it is warm here and they are on his back screened porch but, look fine. I'm waiting to see how they look once full summer sets in here with 103f days.

I don't say cure but, possible treatment. I may get them tested later if they remain looking normal. It has satisfied my curiosity as well.

i have found the reading on virus very interesting i have been told that virus bubs seed do not have the virus in them so if your going to get rid of your collection set seeds before u get rid of them as the seedlings wont have virus in them happy growing everyone danny

Thanks Danny I think most of us have been doing just that..using them for breeding. How do your seedlings look?
Donna

Thanks for that great post twizzlestick. Those are some very interesting treatments you have experimented with. Cool that you have had some noticeable success. I have heard that milk can do interesting things to control a number of diseases. I tried using it last year to control canna lily rust. I think it held off the emergence of rust a while, but did not keep it at bay all season. The walnut hulls are fascinating. I had not heard of them before as an antiviral or herbicide. Do you know if they are mobile in the soil? Some herbicides move farther from the spray location than others in response to rain. That can be good or bad depending on what you are trying to accomplish I'd be curious to know if there is data on how the walnut shell chemical behaves in soil.

Donna, would you please tell me what software you use to join/merge/attach two photos like the ones in your first post above? And what function or process within the software do you use?

Thanks!
Carol

Hi Carol,
I do it in Picasa, just choose however many pictures you want 2, 4 or more and then send it to collage..then you arrange your pictures and just enlarge them to fit the collage box..so simple even I can do it!!..no extra software needed.
Basically, I love Picasa except for the nasty little habit it has of when you send pictures to your albums they normally go to the end of the album..sometimes it makes a mistake and they end up somewhere in the middle of the albums and throws off the sequence and that is what messes up my pictures sometimes in these posts.. I go back to check and there is a different picture there..very frustrating since you can't at that time fix it..if you move one, they all get messes up...
But since I have about 7,000 pictures, (not all hippies) I'm not going to change at this point..it doesn't happen all that often...
You can also write text on the picture, very simple...

Donna

Donna, thanks for the detailed information! Greatly appreciated!

Carol

The bed as today
{{gwi:388012}}From Amaryllis 2012

Arif

Hi Donna, so sorry to see your poor Pink Diamond. You must be so bummed! I just stopped by to see what was going on as the bloom season is in full swing. Nothing like a virus thread to heat things up!

Alana

Hi All,

I hesitated to resurrect this thread but I just wanted you all to see that this summer my Pink Diamond with the horrific second flower (no, I didn't throw it away) is growing in almost full sun and to date hasn't shown any sign of virus on any of the leaves..there is a large offset also and all leaves are clear other than the slug damaged leaf.
So, what should I think now? Is it possible that the bulb is so hearty that it could be virused and not show signs in the leaves?

Donna

{{gwi:392346}}

{{gwi:392347}}

Wonder if the bulb experienced some trauma/stress as the bloom was developing inside? Paul (RC) had said that our Sweet Dreams looked so bad because of stress and last years blooms looked great.

If the leaves are clear...I think you are good, but just keep an eye on them.
K

I am encourged that the leaves look so clear since my other bulbs that I know are virused are this year sporting virused leaves per usual..by the way, what is Sweet Dreams..did you by chance mean Sweet Nymph? ;-)

I do know however that this bulb did not suffer any trauma..that I am sure of...(unfortunately)...

I was combining Double Dream and Sweet Nymph! Yes, I meant Sweet Nymph, but Sweet Dreams is a good name don't you think?
K

Actually, that's just what I was thinking..what a great name Sweet Dreams would be..you get first crack at it since you thought of it first...;-) (grow seedlings grow....) your first green double!!!