Great haul, be sure to post photos, but remember....a high percentage will have the virus. It won't show itself until the leaves are growing out in warm/hot weather (stress). It's a sad but true fact! Just wash hands/arms well after you handle them before you touch any of your prized bulbs. Hate to sound like a "hater", but Eric, it's a sad truth that a larger proportion will be affected!
Kristi

Is there anything I can do to help prevent it? Wash the bulbs in Luke semi dawn detergent would help? We are coming back from ft. Walton and Destin Florida. Bout to stop at wal-mart in crestview to buy some miracle gro potting soil. Is there something I can get there to put on the bulbs to help them? I was so excited about buying them at such a cheap price I couldn't resist!

We all get excited by such a find !!!

Nope Eric... Not a thing you can do! Now seriously, if it was THAT easy to stop it, the virus wouldn't be such a problem. Search this forum for "virus" to learn more. It's pretty discouraging, but it can be managed. You'll lose some bulbs along the way.... Be prepared to destroy or isolate affected bulbs, or you're asking for grief. As soon as I find a bulb with the classic mosaic pattern on the leaf, it goes into a screen house. They still grow, but aren't vigorous. Some say you could still use the pollen, but it scares me.

Living where the summers get hot, the leaves get mottled as soon as they get stressed. Some on the list who live in cooler climates have said they suspect they have virused bulbs but don't see the externals signs. That's still a question yet to be answered as I am not aware of anyone sending bulbs off for testing unless they are showing signs and then it's pretty clear that you have an affected bulb.

Sorry to go on and on. Some on the list have destroyed hundreds or thousands of bulbs. It's discouraging. I'm afraid to even trade mature bulbs anymore.

Kristi

If you use the pollen from a virused bulb you run the risk of spreading the virus to a healthy plant. But, you can use a virused plant for seedpods. If you put pollen from a healthy plant onto a virused plant the experts say the seeds will be fine.

I have some seedlings from about 3 years ago: A virused Tangellino x a healthy Blossom Peacock. These seedlings have had their leaves for the better part of 3 years now and no sign of virus. I made this cross before I knew that Tangellino was virused and to this day, my one and only (aside from offsets) Blossom Peacock is still healthy even though I didn't know enough to take precautions. In those days I only dabbed pollen on once and may very well have used my finger so maybe that's why it didn't spread.

I also have a couple of crosses from a virused Estrella x a large noid white (which I swiped the pollen from a nursery so I have no idea to the health of that bulb) and virused Estrella x a healthy Fairy Tale. All seedlings look fine. I'm sure you can mate two virused plants and they seeds will be fine also.

The bottom line is you're better off not trying to hybridize with virused plants, but sometimes if you have a rare plant you might want to try.

If anyone out there has grown virused seedlings from seeds that have one virused parent then please let us know.

Donna

P.S. One more thing to keep in mind.. when you are dabbing pollen on a virused bulb, if you use a Q-tip as I do.. only stick the Q-tip in the bag of pollen ONCE and then dab your plant and then THROW the Q-tip away. If you dab again use a clean Q-tip each time..DO NOT dip that Q-tip back in bag of pollen or you run the risk of contaminating the rest of the pollen.

And Eric, make sure you take the time to do as Kristi suggests and do a search on this forum for information on this virus. You'll find a lot of interesting reading and see that some of us can get really hot under the collar over this important subject. You need to educate yourself since you are putting a lot of time, effort, and money into your new hobby. Everyone should be aware!!

...and one more thing, I personally have bought two virused bulbs in the past at either Home Depot or Llowes.. a Lady Jane and an Oskar. I haven't to date bought a virused bulbs from WalMarts..if that makes you feel any better :-) (we should all know at the end of this season about WalMarts, I only bought 3) but others may have had different experiences.

Eric,

Keep in mind they don't get the virus from the store...it comes from the grower. So depending on the grower, it's still a risk!

You'll find that, due to the risk of slander, people won't necessarily name names on the forum! When in doubt, email off list and ask.
K

Thanks you guys! Kristi and Donna u guys are always there to help me out! Now if I can only pinpoint a virused bulb. I have been reading on virused bulbs in this forum but I still need to be better educated about them. I have done got scared about this now and don't want to lose any of my precious bulbs to this!

Eric...if you could look at a bulb and detect virus, then we'd all be able to avoid them! Sadly, they will be fat and happy bulbs, but until the leaves grow out with the classic mosaic pattern, you can't tell.

Time will tell...and Donna is right. Virus discussions have been the source of "arguements" more than any other topic on this forum!
Kristi

What would cause the leaves to turn yellow after blooming and start limping? I have one that is doing that!

Classic failure to thrive. I don't think these box bulbs are pampered like the big ones from distributors/growers are. Just keep an eye on it and don't let it rot. It won't be the first one with an issue...you're a good concerned bulb dad!

Which bulb isn't doing well??
K

The first one I had bloom...a mislabel Minerva that turned out to be an amigo. I am gonna keep it on the dry side and try to make sure it gets enough light to make sure that wasn't the issue.