Avoid Hostas from the Dutch wholesalers like the plague

[Chris_W]

I hate to say it, but the Dutch wholesale hosta suppliers have gotten worse and worse. They pay a lot of lip service about "guaranteed" HVX free, but it means nothing. Or they say that the plants have less than a 5% infection rate, but this is based on VISUAL INSPECTIONS in the fields only. Again, this means NOTHING!

Last year I bought some Dutch plants from one grower that were billed as "guaranteed" HVX free and one out of 4 batches were infected badly. The others checked out okay so far, but still, the guarantee meant nothing.

Last year I also bought some plants from another Dutch grower and was told they were tissue culture plants that had never been in the field. 5 out of 7 different plants purchased tested positive for HVX, and one batch wasn't even the correct plant so I didn't bother wasting my money to test them.

Then another Dutch grower sent me 3 batches of plants and 2 of the 3 were infected with HVX.

So 8 out of 14 batches were positive for HVX and one was mislabeled. That is a horrible rate of infection for so called "HVX FREE" plants!

Since the Dutch can't get their act together to control ANY virus problems the only choice is to boycott ALL of their plants. We've seen cucumber mosaic virus, tobacco rattle virus, arabis mosaic virus, hosta virus x, and several other unknown viruses on a wide variety of plants - and they just don't seem to care one bit about cleaning things up.

I am really sorry, but I think the USDA needs to get involved and either ban the Dutch imports all together or institute a post entry quarantine. This virus situation is getting out of control. If you are a grower buying from the Dutch you really need to reconsider. If you are a gardener, ask your suppliers if they know the origin of their plants. It doesn't matter if they were grown in the US or purchased from a US distributor - the origin might still be Dutch.

Get to know your nursery owners and keep a watchful eye out to keep these things out of our gardens.

Stepping off my soapbox now.

Chris

[nanny_56]

Are there some tips to be able to tell if they are from a Dutch supplier? Names on tags or something to give people a clue? Where do we get this information?

[thy]

Chris..can I copy this and use it

Please bring in both the USDA and the AHS... they have to show thir flags for real and have been rather slow... just my opinion

Send you a mail some times ago... know they are more expencive, but they test.....

Let me know if you ever find a problem with their plants

The general Dutch are a problem to all of us and to them self..even they do not seem to notise

Please... if I can help in any way... just tell

I hate it when people know they sell dirthy products to others ... somehow ..T H A T S just to low

Pia

[flowerchild59]

Thanks Chris for taking such a proactive stand on this matter.
Have you tried involving your cogressman or local legislatures to get the Dept. of Ag's attention??

[Buckeye]

I applaud Chris for his stance!! Unfortunately in this age of free trade, we can't just ban the Dutch imports, lest the US become labeled as (conservatives forbid) "protectionist".

Many other genera of plants from other continents must go through a 2 year postentry quarantine when they enter the US. If the USDA were to institute the same on hostas, it would effectively shut down the dutch imports because a nursery can't make money sitting on a 6-9 month crop for 2 years. Big wholesale nurseries would be forced to buy clean US tc's or not grow hostas at all, because after all, it is all about making money.

Sadly though, the USDA doesn't seem to want to bother anymore unless it is a food crop (or the disease could affect food crops).

Therefore, speaking with your wallet is one of the most effective things you can do. Buy only from hosta specialists who willingly share their policies and practices on viruses, and who can tell you exactly where each and every variety came from.

[planwerk]

Thanks Chris,

very very sad story, i hate to read it. cry: :
Would you please be so kind to send (PM) me the names of the dutch wholesalers?
There is only one safe place - in my opinion - if you want to buy new hostas in the netherlands.

Gardencenters in Germany still have tons of HVX plants like most of the plantaginea-family (Sweet Susan,...), Gold Standard-family (Striptease, Gypsy Rose), Whirlwind, Sum and Substance, even Blue Umbrella, Pacific Blue Edger, Regal Splendor just to name a few.

Take care planwerk

[Canadian-hosta-girl]

Bravo Chris , finally someone sais what i have been thinking since i have learned about HVX , why dont the nursery boycott the damn places that sell hvx ...why keep buying lots of plants from a wholesaler that keeps feeding deseased plants to them......wish more nursery owner would care as much as you do and be as proactive , and open in dealing with hvx like you are .

why doesnt the nursery banned or boycott buying from those and fill complaints with their state agricultural departement or import departement so that eventually the state or country will banned these bad wholesalers from shiping their stock to certain countries until they get their act together if they dont want to starve to death ? espacially concerning hvx because it cant be treated , the plants infected dont have a solution to be treated other then to be trashed and burned .

and i too agree with nanny_56 , their should be a post or thread started about labels , the good ones (good places) and bad places , nursery and wholesalers labels , so we know when we buy the plants where the nursery got them from .....and in the case of hvx when the 16 years old clerk that dont give a damn or their manager dont have time for this hvx bit we can then send a picture or complaint to the wholsaler that sold them the plants i know some people would think the label post would be a touchy subject but i for one wold feel it would be helpfull and god info for the us customers and canadian customers as well.....

just my opinion and 2 cents

[Rosenzobel]

Hello,

uiiiiiii i bought just a few days before from 2 differnet dutch sellers.( they say they are hvx clean-i spend a lot of money ...)....´hope that not these sellers are the one you meen...could you please send me pm with the names of the sellers you made bad experience with. (sorry my bad english again... )
lg
melanie

[jobranch]

Chris - Beyond being frustrated and disappointed in all this, returning a batch of sick hostas to a Dutch grower has to be a royal pain. How many hostas are in a batch and what do you go through to return them/get a credit?

Jeff