I might have water heated up and on the stove, ready to go. That would raise the temp faster with less water. Also maybe have some cool tap water and ice water ready for a faster drop if needed.

My meat thermometer adjusts high temps pretty quickly.

Good luck to you!

I just thought of something else. If you can set your water heater to 125 (or higher to adjust for temp loss) you can hook a garden hose to it and use that for your supply.

Thanks, Santa. The hose thing is a good idea. I have gas in the house, so have plenty of hot water and it gets HOT. In the garage, I've have electric and it doesn't get very hot. I'll ask the DH to if it can be turned up.
Good idea on the ice, too. When I did the one with foliar nematodes, I got the water too hot and couldn't get it cooled fast enough.
I went to the restaurant supply and got another thermometer. Hopefully that will help.

I really dread this.

bk

I feel for ya. Let us know.

From Wikipedia :

Several natural nematicides are known. An environmentally benign garlic-derived polysulfide product is approved for use in the European Union (under Annex 1 of 91/414) and the UK as a nematicide.[4] Another common natural nematicide is obtained from neem cake, the residue obtained after cold-pressing the fruit and kernels of the neem tree. Known by several names in the world, the tree was first cultivated in India in ancient times and is now widely distributed throughout the world. The root exudate of marigold (Tagetes) is also found to have nematicidal action. Nematophagous fungi, a type of carnivorous fungi, can be useful in controlling nematodes, Paecilomyces being one example.

Besides chemicals, soil steaming can be used in order to kill nematodes. Superheated steam is induced into the soil, which causes almost all organic material to deteriorate.

Must admit I haven't had the need to go looking for ways to deal with root knot nematodes, and I do feel for you going through this, but I haven't run across anything that suggests using either a bleach bath or a water bath for dealing with it. For foliar nematodes, yes, but not for root knot nems.

A recentUCDavis pest management posting shows the following:

For effective solarization, moisten the soil, then cover it with a clear, plastic tarp. Leave the tarp in place for 4 to 6 weeks during the hottest part of summer. Root knot nematodes, including eggs, die when soil temperature exceeds 125°F for 30 minutes or 130°F for 5 minutes.

Not sure how well the hosta will survive this abuse, but you haven got much to loose, do you...

Pieter

Bkay- Perhaps you could reduce all this stress by dumping what you have, and starting over. This year I went to put annual pics in my binder and it wasn't fun. So many lost size or are reduced in size from 3 gal to tiny. Aside from the pest and fungus gremlins, we are fighting an uphill battle of growing them where it doesn't always stay cold enough for them to thrive. Over the years, I have probably lost 1/3 of mine due to "whatever". Bugs or fungus, all tempered with not enough dormant time. I have seen articles in old Journals that show the difference in vigor comparing hostas that didn't get enough dormancy. They are simply weaker and don't grow as big or as fast and are susceptible to more crap that we in the warmer winter places get.

I had a bunch of problems this year, but I have pesticided them with a systemic soak, then flooded them with a 50% peroxide, and they are holding on. This year I've had a particular problem with mealy bugs not just in the crock of the petioles, but throughout the soil. I played dropping rubbing alcohol with an eye-dropper, then the imidacloprid drench.

I have some hostas that have been with me since 2001 reduced to a 4" pot.

Time to say DUMP them and start over with the ones you really want, just to keep your sanity.

-Babka

Turns out there was more than one problem. The large ones I suspected of root knot nematodes did have them. I'm not sure how it worked out, (or if it's worked out) but some of the plants that should have had them didn't. I got Fragrant Bouquet, Honeybells and Royal Standard at the same time and only Honeybells' roots showed signs of the problem.

The strangest thing was Irish Luck. It looked bad last week and the leaves just melted since last weekend. I assumed nems. Not sure what it is, but it's not that. This was last Sunday.

Today, all the leaves were gone and it was budding out.

I took your advice, Babka. I tossed a bunch. Mostly, they were the those little bitty hosta I got from G.W. Wild in 2013. Most died over that winter. A few hung on, but never developed far enough to tell what they were. They looked ugly, they were tiny, hello Mr. Trashcan. I guess I still have a few of them.

All together, I treated 14 hosta. I unpotted several more and saw no problems with the roots. I'm going to continue the drench for nematodes, since I already have it.
Thanks for listening.

bk

BK, taking a look at that last picture it could well be that the rotting petiole issue was a fungal infection. a fungicide application might be appropriate and if nothing else, certainly won't hurt....

Pieter

Thanks Pieter. I'll do that.

bk

Are you chalking up more of your problem to a bad batch of hostas in 2013 than to anything else overall? Did you treat some that didn't look to be a problem but you may have suspected might be? You may have talked about that and I have forgotten.

About three weeks ago I pulled out my Undulata Albomarginata from it's pot to check the roots. It has done really poorly for two years. It was actually in several small clumps when I removed it, The roots didn't seem very full for a plant that old, but health wise looked fine. They were firm and white and fairly long. I cleaned them up and down-potted it in fresh media. Since then I have a few new leaves which have sprouted.

Keep us up to date on what happens.

I hope you save some of those hostas you think are affected by nems, bkay.

I wish I knew more about this stuff to offer some useful advice other than to say that one of my hostas (Bridegroom) is going dormant early here in zone 5a. About half of his leaves have dried up already. Perhaps some of the hostas you think are affected by nems are just experiencing early dormancy. Just a thought. Good luck, bkay. My thoughts are with you.

Maybe you already know this or maybe it won't apply as much in a potted plant, but let me share something that I just heard on an organic garden show on the radio as I was sweeping up leaves from a nice rain storm we had late yesterday. I looked it up online and found it there, also. Someone called in about a root knot problem with some of her vegetables. His advice was to use a cedar mulch covering around them. As the cedar breaks down it forms things that feed on nematodes. It's not an overnight fix at all but something to consider if this continues to be a problem, or maybe if your treated hosta pull through maybe it could help in the coming season.

https://ediblesanmarcos.wordpress.com/root-knot-nematode/

Use Cedar Chips for Mulch – Using cedar chips for mulch in an infected area help for many reasons. First, it helps by keeping the spread of the nematodes down from muddy shoes. Secondly, the microorganisms that help to break down the carbon products such as mulch can get rid of nematodes. When you have a pile of mulch there are many organisms that take turns in decomposing it. Each species of population starts out in high numbers and takes over in population, their numbers explode and then subside, each species having it’s turn It turns out that there are nematode destroying fungi that run late in the dominating cycle,and there is still energy left since cedar breaks down relatively slowly thus there is energy to destroy the nematodes.

Santa,I chalked it up to a bad batch of potting soil. I can't see any other way that many potted hosta from that many different sources could have the same problem. Someone on Hallson's suggested that I had rot, not nems. It made sense, so I sent an email to A&M seeking clarification. They said there was no fungal rot present. He said that was the first thing they tested for, because that's how it looked. He pointed out that you can have rot from just being too wet and not have a fungus present. He said the concentration of nems was heavy.

It looked different in the spring that it did later. In the spring, the plants came up late and dwarfed. The leaves began to brown and rot. The remains of roots were brown and papery. In the spring, the plants attempted to put out new roots from the top of the crown.

What it looked like as it got hot was that lots of leaves were dying. I popped some out of the pots and the roots were fine, so I left them alone. The ones that had brown papery roots got the hot water bath. The ones that the roots looked white and intact but seemed to have other problems got the 10% bleach bath. All the potting soil went in the trash can. All the pots were bleached in 10% bleach along with the trash can I mix my potting soil in.

Ira, I generally don't have early dormancy. I strictly went by how the roots looked. I had a beautiful Paul's Glory that I got as a 2 gallon plant in 2013. It was gorgeous last year, too. It was smaller and starting to have brown leaves. I popped it out of the pot and the whole outer ring of roots were brown and papery, so it got the treatment. Most of the viable roots were only about 6" long.

I'll use the quart of Nemakill I bought for a monthly soil drench until it runs out. I'll make sure to keep them on pot feet so any remaining nems won't get into another pot.

I've done all I can do. If they live, they live. If they don't, they don't.

bk

So sorry you have to go thru this bk. Hope all goes well now.

Fingers crossed that the majority survive.

Glad you had the strength to toss the duds. I have several that went from decent size to looking like liners (bad winter) and a couple that have never grown. I've replaced some and am thinking about just giving up on the rest. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat.

If it's a last ditch effort, you might try putting them in the ground for a while. Not the infected ones, the ones that have good roots or aren't thriving. I nursed along Oil Paint and Baby Doll all summer. OP kept wilting, BD didn't grow and had almost no roots. Ten days ago I gave up and planted them. OP stopped going limp and BD has new leaves. If you're going to toss them anyhow, what have you got to lose?

Thanks for the idea, madplanter, but I live on Texas' blackland prairie. Our soil is alkaline, very hard clay and very difficult to dig in. I don't think I want to put hosta in the ground.

This year and last has about cured my hosta fever.

bk

Bk, did you send a sample of the Irish Luck to the ag center? You can have two problems at once. It looks a lot like fungus.

kathy

Thanks, Kathy, but, no, I didn't. Each test is $35.00. For $35.00, I can replace it with a healthy one. It's the only one that looks like that. Yes, it looks like fungus. On most fungus, they just say toss the plant. I drenched it with a systemic fungicide. If it makes it, it makes it. If it doesn't improve, I'll toss it. I tossed QoTS and Victory this week. Victory had a different fungus. It looked like the photos of petiole rot. It looks like Minuteman is going next.

I'm just "fried" on hosta problems. We'll see what makes it.

bk

What % of your hosta have had problems over the last two years? You're worrying me!

Santa, I've never had much in the way of disease and pest problems. I've always had anthracnose to some extent. It doesn't bother many of them and it doesn't kill them. It just makes them look ugly. Most of my problems have been late freezes and that kind of thing. Also, there's the learning curve. You know, things like don't water very much in the spring. If it turns cool, then you can have rot problems.

I lost about 20% of my hosta in the winter of 2013-2014. If you remember, it was really dry. I had lots of new and young plants in small pots. I'd heard the thing about not watering, so I put ice cubes in the pots. They needed water. Many just dried up and died. Then we had a 16 degree morning after the fragrants were up. I put them in the shed, but it wasn't enough. That set everything back.

I don't know how many I've tossed this year. I'll count when it's over

Now, I have southern blight. This year, I've had root knot nematodes, foliar nematodes and several kinds of rot/fungus. It just keeps on keeping on. The problem is that I don't know why. Was it adding bark mulch to the potting soil? Was it the weather? We added a workshop, which increased the shade. Was that it? I have no clue.

I'm ready for some cheese with this whine.

bk

It seems to me that you have the patience of Job.

Bk, I've spent the last hour reading the label for the Bayer flutolanil product Prostar 70. My calculations came out to 1/3 teaspoon per gallon of water to cure southern blight. That's 6 oz per 100 gallons as close as I can figure. The label has drench amounts per pot.

The Bayer Advanced All in One is available at HD and cheaper, but it's an insecticide also and DH has bee hives now so I'm going with the straight fungicide.

Kathy

I feel your frustration. I have only been keeping hosta since 2012, and only had a handful for the first two years, so my day is likely coming as we don't even have the cold season that you do. I can somewhat relate to you due to my experiences in the world of saltwater aquariums. I had kept saltwater fish since the 70s and around 2000 set up my first reef tank with live corals. Hard corals grow an average of 1/4" a month so it takes years to get a decent sized piece that really comes to it's potential. The margin for error is not wide so one even extremely short term but major problem and you can be partially or totally wiped out. Sometimes you knew what that problem was, sometimes you didn't. I experienced it in 05 or 06 due to my own stupid mistake, but at least I knew what I did wrong. It was so depressing but I rebounded.

It's not exactly the same thing as what you are going through as we can't control our environment outside of the house. We are out of the "natural area" where hosta thrive so we start at a huge disadvantage. What I did learn in my reef keeping years was to stay with what was working for me. Listening to others is fine of course, but what works for person A might not work for person B, or sometimes it's just plain and simple bad luck.

I have about 30 hosta pots and I will add a few more next spring, but I think I'm about as invested as I want to be at this point. I'll see how things go over the next 2 or 3 years. I hope you stick with it but would totally understand if you threw in the towel. There does eventually come a point where a person has to say that's it's just not worth it.

Thanks, Kathy. Someone posted on Hallson's and Bill Meyer said to use a bayer product with teburonazole. It ended up being Bayer all in one Rose and Flower care. It was an ounce per quart.

I think I have two different problems, though. I just don't know what they are. I posted the second one to facebook's hosta disease and pest site last night.

bk

This one (Victory) went nuts with the fungus after I bleached it. The petioles fell over and it had white stuff on it. I tossed it the first of the week. But I found the same orange stripe on Cathedral Windows and Avocado yesterday.

I found this on Minuteman (might be Patriot) yesterday. I also found this on Old Glory Friday. (I actually thought it was a spider web.) It had that cottony texture and feel right next to the soil. I just hosed off all the "stuff" and soil on Old Glory and repotted it in fresh soil. I drenched this one with the Bayer product along with Old Glory.

The tebuconazole will kill the southern blight, but it might take a couple of times. I got my flutolanil tonight and wouldn't you know it's pouring outside. Already got 3 inches. And I have a wedding to go to tomorrow night. Three of the four beds that have had SB before have it again. And another one never infected before has it. Hope they can make it to Saturday morning. C'est la guerre!

Kathy

Best product to use all natural Neocide soon to be a retail product on ebay found at OSTEEN TURF SALES

Kathy, this is an old thread, and I haven't re-read it. There is an excellent article in the hosta library written by Bill Meyer about Southern Blight and how to keep it from returning. It's in the diseases section. It may be mentioned already in this thread.

bk

I know this is an antique thread, but has anyone tried to sous vide their affected hosta, and then treat with hydrogen peroxide (35%) …

it works on amaryllis to get rid of red blotch ...

Are there any new chemical treatments for nematodes?

Bragu, sous vide is a term usually used in food production. You vacuum seal the food in a plastic bag and then cook in hot water. Is that what you mean?

bkay

yes. precisely. no contact with the hot water.. except in the bag in the water, kept at temperature by the heater. no flame needed. the immersion heater keeps the water temp consent. after it's cool, use h202 on the crown, or the bulb (of an amaryllis)