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When I was out taking school pictures of all my hosta today, I noted that Blue Angel had a short scape emerging.
The test kits for HVX arrived this afternoon. I want to test the plant before I begin any cutting or removing of anything else. Also, I want to test the other two hosta involved, the Winter Snow and the Fragrant Queen. Only the Fragrant Queen is from PDN and it was clean except it had the misfortune of being planted with the two Lowes plants. Actually, they all three look pretty good right now. However I want to approach this in as foolproof a manner as possible. I figure with 3 plants and 5 tests, I can only mess up 2 tests and do the job. IF they turn out positive for HVX, how do I deal with the scape? Put a bag over it? And not injure the plant to increase chance of plant sap? And if I spray it with Roundup, all 3 plants, I want to wait until fall at the earliest to do any digging? I have an old shovel to dig with, almost broken handle, and I have a sweet little Full Moon Japanese maple that could fit nicely in that spot once I clean out the soil and replace it. From what I read by Rob, he double bagged a contractor size bag to keep from losing any soil. His problem was bigger than mine, but mine is in a tight spot. At least, I only have three hosta in the ground, and all others are in containers which can be safely out of the way when this procedure is taking place. Anyone done the HVX tests and had the test work okay? No problems? Well, I guess tomorrow is a good day to die, if you are a HVX positive hosta. So sad. Lovely plants.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by steve_mass 5b (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 6:25
| BJ, I've posted this link before. Read it before you test. It's pretty easy to do. Steve |
Here is a link that might be useful: Testing Positive
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- Posted by tomahawkclaim (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 6:44
| I've tested 7 or 8 times. Easy. My only comment is that you only need a quarter or half-dollar sized sample; larger samples clog the sensor uptake and give no reading (neither the "test is working" nor the "positive for HVX" lines appear). |
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- Posted by paul_in_mn 4b (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 7:25
| Unless they have changed it, the rep that was demo'ing said to use a sample the size of your thumbnail. At convention, they handed out a kit and yes it is very easy. Paul |
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| I have had occaision to run a lot of the Agdia tests. Got HVX into my garden before I knew what it was. By the time I found out, I had spread it badly, so I tested all my Hosta. (Thank goodness I didn't have as many then as I do now) I have never had a test not work (the top line is the control line) and yes it is really easy. I looked at your pictures and didn't see anything that looked suspicious, but then I couldn't get them to enlarge. I understand your concern, believe me, but just because it was bought at Lowes does not mean it has to have HVX. I got my first diseased plant from a reputable grower. So I suggest if you test the suspect plant first and it is negative, maybe you don't need to test them all. I have also read that if you take a small sample from up to 3 plants, mash it like the kit says and test that, it will tell you if any of them is infected. If yes, then obviously you have to check them individually, but if no you just saved a kit. Haven't tried this myself yet, but it seems logical. |
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- Posted by moccasinlanding z9A AL (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 16:30
| Thanks, you all, for the encouragement. And I just discovered something about Flickr and picture sizes. I visited my account to see if I could make the picture bigger. There was a window which opened that gave me the option to choose a size. Reading the size information for each, I noticed that my "original" size was much bigger than the "large" Flickr size. So I clicked it. Whoahhhh, I did not realize my camera originals were THAT BIG. So Jagd51, if you want to click on the picture above it will take you to Flickr, and then look for the big original size option. I appreciate you taking the time to post your experience. I do not see any signs of HVX, but like FranknJim pointed out, I can test now and not have to wait for 3 years or until the plant(s) begin to show symptoms. It might turn out that these three are totally clean, and another plant now in the garden will be my first case of the virus. Let's hope not. It's too blooming hot to do anything today. And DH is working in that area of the garden, or nearby, building the hosta shade structure. I try to stay totally out of his way when he is engaged in a little creative engineering. But we'll see how it works out for tomorrow. Meanwhile the Blue Angel scape has grown 3 inches taller. :) But I'm not touching anything without latex gloves on. |
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- Posted by moccasinlanding (My Page) on Sat, May 19, 12 at 15:23
| Now I can smile about the beautiful Blue Angel and not feel sad about terminating it while it is trying so hard to live. Yes!!! The Agdia ImmunoStrip tested NEGATIVE FOR HVX. As advised to save two strips and not test each plant separately, I combined the leaf samples from Winter Snow and Blue Angel, the two Lowes plants with a high potential for bringing HVX into my little bit of Eden. I figured the three plants located in the area (Fragrant Queen from PDN was the third innocent party) would have to be removed if any of the Lowes plants tested positive, so any results showing positive would get the whole bunch yanked. Actually RoundUp applied and neutralized as much as possible before removal in the fall, along with the soil. Now life is so much simpler. I do not have to do all these unpleasant unhappy things to my garden. I can go touch the plants, look at their new growth and the backs of the leaves, enjoy the scapes, and check for damage from insects or disease. Well, we have a second chance with my in-the-ground trio, and I may opt to put more in the ground now as well. These three are growing very well. They emerged much later than the ones which overwintered in pots, and so I hope will keep growing longer in the fall as well. Maybe they won't exhibit signs of heat dormancy. They did not last fall, still looking good when we came back south the day before Thanksgiving. And I still have 4 test kits for HVX to use before May 2013, and I will test before I worry so much next time. Whew! That was a squeaker. |
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