Anyone else ever have to start over b/c of HVX?

Two years ago I had to destroy all but a couple of my hostas b/c of HVX... the survivors were mostly in pots... I know I had Night Before Christmas, Patriots, Sagae, Big Daddy, Gold Standard, Sum & Substance, at least a dozen or two varieties, all of them had to go... I've included a couple of pics of a couple of plants, the most infected being Gold Standard... one was just starting to show inkbleed, the other had severe inkbleed & some of the browning spots on the leaves... I think the other pic might have been Sagae, but I'm no longer sure anymore...

Last year, I was still too sad from the purge to get more hostas... this year, I couldn't resist and bought three to start all over with in a new location... seems so daunting, starting from scratch... LOL!

Anyone else have to do the same?

Lori in TX

Wow, I'm sorry you had so many losses! I have had HVX twice in the seven years since I started my garden, so not too bad, considering how common it seems to be. The other day I went through a drive through at a local Dunkin Donuts and saw three infected looking hostas in a mass planting there. Did you buy all those hostas in the same place? I wish you better luck with your new hostas!

I have read that the virus stays in the soil and that you can't ever replant hostas in that soil again. I had to get rid of two plants last year. I wish that I could pinpoint where it came from. I also wonder if there are hostas that are more susceptible.

Yes, I would be VERY careful about planting in the same soil again, or at least for quite awhile. They are now saying more than the 2 years they once said. I'm really sorry about your losses.

I've had 3 plants that were positive. Two of them came from the same mail order nursery, although one of them did not show signs for a few years. The other plant was a 'Gypsy Rose' that showed ink bleed in its 2nd year in my garden. All were bought 2006-7, at a time when even very good nurseries were likely to have infected stock because nobody was testing yet.

I think the most important thing now is to ensure that new purchases come from quality nurseries that test their stock and to continue cleaning tools between plants.

Oops - after posting this afternoon I tested a hosta leaf that had been sitting in my kitchen for a couple of days. It just looked a little bit funny, but tested positive. Bummer. I really did think I had an HVS free garden. Back to watching everything carefully and wondering what else could have been infected. It was 'Ani Machi' (aka Geisha). I had this one since 2006 and it appeared to be fine until this year and even then it wasn't any single symptom that made me sure, just an uneasy feeling that it didn't look quite right.

So far, I've only lost 'Brim Cup' (from a big box store when I just started collecting) and 'Striptease' (known to have a high percentage of infections) to HVX. I've been lucky so far but probably have a couple more cases lying in wait. I just do the best I can now to buy from better sources. I admit I'm not great about cleaning my tools all the time, but when I'm moving plants I do only use one tool a day per hosta.