Sure looks like the pics of Southern Blight to me. But you are doing all you can to treat it. Perhaps it just got too far along in the soil for an instant treatment. Most of what I've read is that these fungicides help to "control" the problem, not cure it. I didn't read this whole article but it did say something about it not thriving in acid soil.

Wish I could help, Bkay, as I know your frustration. I have lost several to soil mealy bugs. I didn't know I had them until I saw the white cottony stuff at the base of the petiole when investigating yellowing leaves. I killed the bugs with rubbing alcohol, but some pots had them so thick around the roots that a drench with pesticide wouldn't kill them. I had to toss some old favorites. I may do a drench of pesticide AND fungicide on all my pots each fall and spring to head all these maladies at the pass. EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING.

-Babka

Southern Blight Info

those new pips.. sure look happy ...

dont know what else to tell you

wish bruce was around ...

BTW .. on any of them.. have you tried throwing them on the driveway ???

ken

I hope you find out what this is Bkay, because I have it too. Exact same lines. Just to make it interesting, I am in Minnesota, and all my plants are in the ground. Your picture of Victory is exactly what my Sagae looks like. Mine is a huge plant (was a huge plant) over 20 years old. It has been in the same spot for 20 years.

It is slowly eating its way through the plant. There are no little orange balls, and a think Southern Blight is pretty rare in MN. It has never been divided so about a month ago, I took off a chunk, hosed it off, and the roots were perfect. Just like your picture. I replanted it in another spot, and I have treated it and the original plant with the Bayer fungicide. Doesn't seem to be helping.

I believe this has something to do with the three plants I bought last summer that started to die about 10 days after I got them last year. There is a long drawn out post about it from last August. I did it all. Peroxide bath on one. Bleach on another. Fungicide on all. After all is said and done, still dead.

I have been following your problems, and I feel for you. I keep hoping you will figure it out. But you know there is a point where this stops being fun. I think from here on in, when something gets sick, I will dig it up, pitch it, and move on. Life is too short.

I'll have zinfandel.

bk

Jamie, the problem for me this year is that it's been continual since they came up.It's not just one or two. It's been insects, slugs, root rot and three different looking petiole rot problems. Now, it's about time for grasshoppers. I've tossed 16 so far this year. I have another 8 or 10 that are still iffy.

Maybe I will send this one to Texas A&M. If it's still going downhill on Monday, I'll send Avocado. I'd like to know what it is. If it's Southern Blight, it does not have little orange balls.

As long as you don't know what it is or how it's transmitted, you risk infecting every hosta you have.

bk

Jamie, it is not so rare in MN. Here's a link.

Southern Blight/Crown Rot in MN

-Babka

bkay, all we can do is treat plants well, do our best and hope for the best. I have no Southern Blight, but have several plants with leaves rotting and drying up, petioles are last to dry up. It seems to be a bacterial rot. They get enough and not too much water. I treated them all with Bayer Adv. Disease Control. It seemed to have helped with a 'Vim and Vigor', but an 'Avocado' plus its soil had to go, 'Whirlwind' probably too soon. I wish the best for you!

I'm on a roll. I think I have it figured out.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2811308/mushrooms-in-my-pots-a-problem?n=2

I'm sending two plants to A&M on Monday. I'm sending Avocado and Minuteman. Those look like two different fungi to me. I'll call first and find out if they can tell anything if I've already drenched them.

bk

bk, interesting, now I wonder if I should mulch my beds with the shredded pine mulch I just bought or use a chunkier mulch. I know all mulches will break down eventually but the shredded will decompose quicker than the chunky.

I hope this is the answer for this new disease and that there is a solution. Keeping my fingers crossed. Time for you to get some good news!!

bk, I realize how many problems you've been dealing with......you passed the "Are you kidding me" point, a long time ago. Let's hope they can help you.

Not a new disease but the old August fungal attacks which have been around for years.

First photo is slug damage which the ground fungus then started to take advantage of the chewed-on tissues. The red is the fungal attack visible as it begins to kills the plant cells.

Second photo is same fungal attack from heat/moisture stress. If those plants are already stressed the small green buds will eventually wither and die as well.

I would bleach in cold water, remove all the leaves so the crowns and roots are completely submerged, and probably dip in a fungicide like Bayer Systemic or imidiclopid. Pot up and keep for 10-14 days in cool shaded spot or indoor garage to see if the plant catches itself and is worth keeping.

Otherwise throw it away, because the crowns will get infected once it is under stress as well. Could be a moisture/temp cycle that caused the plant to become susceptible and the wounds allowed the fungus to get going.

Happens all the time in my garden; if I want to keep the plant I have to catch the process early or the plant is not worth messing with.

I cleaned about 50 plants this morning for some gifts and cut off all the dead leaves then bleached and am air drying them now. Making sure only healthy non-fungus stems and roots are kept.

Will send some photos in a while.

Bruce

So here are Sagae leaves with three different slug damage at various spots in the leaves that also have been attacked by the summer fungus . Plants dug within the past 2 hours, mature clumps that are fading, perfect for transplanting now IF YOU KEEP THEM MOIST so they can rebound in the new site.

Notice the slug damage way up in the leaf on the left has not been attacked by the fungus while on the right leaf the chew marks at the bottom and the fungal attacks have caused the top of the one leaf to die back

Here are the buckets of about 10% bleach water soaking clumps for one hour. Gold Regal and Misty Morning soaking and getting rested for the next journey in life!

Make sure the crowns are completely nderwater

After bleaching - Halcyon

And Sagae

Pinky, my mother's plant

Cloudy with air temp 78, high humidity

Hope this helps. Part of normal hosta gardening!

Thanks for taking the time to go through all the steps Bruce. That really helps. The only question I have, is can you plant a different hosta in that spot? Will the fungus just attack a plant thats already stressed or should you avoid replanting in that location?

I know Bkay has everything in pots, but mine are all in the ground.....

Great question - opportunistic fungi are always present, just need the right conditions to grow and attack plant tissue.

Not an issue to replant that spot as long as a string and vibrant plant. If small weak tissue culture liner or immature division may want to wait for cooler temps which limit fungal attacks ( of that sort of fungus). I wait until temps cool before planting if at all possible. Especially where the temps will be > 80 for highs.

Sorry for the typo; should have said " as long as a STRONG and vibrant plant."

Thanks so much for your help, Bruce. This has been a year of continual diseases and pests since April. I've only started collecting hosta in 2009, so my experience is limited, but this year has been a nightmare. (I had potted hosta previously, but only 4 NOIDs that I'd had for 15 years or so.)

Below is the top of the Avocado that is shown in the first post.

Bk, the stem of the Avocado in the first pic looks like Southern Blight. The diagnostic is pull on one of the wilted leaves and if it easily separates from the crown it's SB. But your whole plant picture doesn't look like it because none of the petioles are laying flat. SB usually attacks the outer leaves first. The Night Before Christmas that I lost to SB ended up with just the scape standing, then that fell over.

My Guacamole currently looks a lot like your Avocado. Some brown wilted leaves that are still firmly attached to the crown. Let me know what the extension service says.

I would knock it out of the pot, cut off the dried up/diseased leaves near the crown, check the root clump for soft tissue which is evidence of root rot (especially the oldest base parts),then break it apart if it is soft, cut out all the rotted tissue until you only have clean fresh healthy tissue in the crown and roots. Bleach your knife repeatedly while pruning the rotted flesh off.

THEN, cold bleach soak for at least 1 hr in 10% bleach and repot, making sure it is planted NOT TOO deep. Then keep it cool and moist for 2 weeks, checking to maintain plant vigor. It should send new growth.

Any leaves that are soft at the base cut off before bleaching - alternately cut all leaves off but not necessary if you keep it cool after replanting and out of the sun and heat.

Give it a chance to recover, especially if temps outside are > 80 day or night. Ok to bring into basement or AC rooms for awhile, to avoid heat.

I have left plants in root bags (with moist newspaper) or no newspaper if healthy roots and in the basement garage until the heat broke before planting in the ground.

Used to say hosta needed < 80 degree temps at night to recover but you all in the heated South seem to know how to keep them watered (which may be why Southern blight happens as well).

My climate here at 2300 ft elevation is same as Detroit area or Delaware: not quite as hot at night. I think that is the key to controlling Aug root rot fungal attacks.

Bruce

Added comment: my late mother Pauline Banyai noticed over the years of hosta gardening that if we dug/divided plants in summer heat, then tried to water at night if temps did not go below 80, that fungal attacks and crown rot took off. May be due to the moisture softening the roots/leaf tissue and the heat/moisture weakens the plant for aggressive fungal attack.

Way we avoided it was either wait for the divisions to be replanted after heat is gone (may be a few days or a week) or not divide until after the heat is off. Again, sun exposure dries out the plants so you have to water, thus the challenge of moisture and heat.

Hot nights in the metro Detroit area spoiled more hosta that one could imagine!

I found a bunch more problems while out this afternoon.I took some photos, but too tired to deal with it.

I emailed the plant diagnostic lab yesterday, No answer yet.

bk

Still no answer from A&M.

Many more of my hosta have signs of the same problem. It's probably some
sclerotenia fungi (Southern blight is sclerotenia rolfsii).
There are several others. I'm just figuring out what is what. Apparently, the
cool wet spring we had gave the fungi the perfect place to grow. Couple that with several hosta that needed repotting that didn't get it and are too deep in the pot (no enough circulation). Adding bark mulch to my sterile potting soil introduced the pathogen. We had the
right temperatures and high humidity that ifungi love in the early to mid spring.with rain every day (same with nematodes) Then
we went from 80 degree days to 100 almost immediately, which stressed the
plants.

That's my working theory, anyway. I'm still trying to identify the exact pathogens I have and if there are any chemical controls

After heat treating some plants for nems a couple of weeks ago, I
don't think it's a good idea to stress the plants any more than they already
are. Bare rooting them at 100 degrees is probably not a good idea. The treatment will kill them if the disease doesn't. I've drenching them with fungicide, and will follow that up with different fungicide in a few days. When it cools off, I'll do what ever I can to treat them. .

This is what I found in pots that look perfectly healthy from the top.

If I don't hear from A&M by tomorrow afternoon, everything will get a fungicide drench. I'll try to contain it until it cools off and then try to treat.

bk

That's terrible that you think you're doing something good for your plants by adding a bark mulch to your soil, and that ends up setting all this in motion. Ugh!

I am so lucky to not have that rolfsi thing on my plants, sorry bkay.

Bruce, thank you for showing your bleaching. I had forgotten the 1 hour length, did it only for 15 minutes. I have a 'Whirlwind' and a 'Frank Lloyd Wright' starting off with mushy leave tips and now drying up leaves. I dug out one, had some dead roots, cleaned them off, gave that bleach bath, also replaced all soil, need to buy more bleach and repeat for 1 hour. Thanks!

You're right, Bernd. I made the same mistake when soaking the Victory in the first photo. I only soaked it about 20 minutes.

Thanks so much for your help and especially the photos, Bruce. I've been drowning this year in foliar nems, root knot nems, root rot, petiole rot and rot rot. It looks like I'll lose at least half my collection. It's really discouraging.

Thanks again.

bk