"Jon, I believe you wrote in a post that you have not had an HVX plant. If I am incorrect on this please say so.This is NOT an attack ! I am curious why you recommend this method when you have not tried it. I also would like help in determining a definition of what is considered dead. If HVX needs a living host then at what point is tissue no longer considered alive. Rob" I have not had any HVX in any of my hostas. I don't have a lot only about 75 or so and growing. I don't take it as an attack but in trying to protect my plants I have read the many postings on HVX and I have looked at the studies from several universities and in all the data available. That is my interest. I don't think that whether or not one has had any plants with HVX makes them any more or less expert. Each study clearly states that HVX cannot survive outside living hosta tissue. Each study also clearly stated that there was no means of transfer of the virus unless the infected plant was cut or scraped and fluid escaped. Also it was necessary to cut or scape a healthy plant in order to infect the healthy plant. When I saw recommendations to sterilize a shovel and dig up infected plants I saw several things wrong with this. First you will cut the diseased plant and introduce fluid. Second you may cut into healthy hostas and spead the virus. Third you may very well leave live tissue in the ground from roots that will remain as a source of contagion for over 2 years. It makes ultimate sense to me to kill the infected plant before digging it up. Why glyphosate? Commonly available. We did have expert advice that normal concentrations of glyphosate would not do the job on thick leaved hostas. I would suggest then concentrate not diluted to kill the hosta. In my opinion it might take 2 applications, but I cannot imagine a hosta living through having all its leaves painted top and bottom with a concentrate. I would mix in a little Dawn as well as this will help wet te leaves and may even help absorb the glyphosate. It is an anti-virus in the case of HVX. Many have given me a lot of "urban legends" about how the HVX virus may go dormant or how it can live outside of living tissue. 3 universities that have conducted experiments over the course of over 3 years say it doesn't happen. The claims that HVX can survive without live tissue or go dormant are old wives� tales. It is as simple as that. Some viruses can, HVX cannot and this is a proven fact. My system may not be proven, but these facts have been proven and re-proven. Digging up an actively virulent hosta is playing Russian roulette. Killing it first makes ultimate sense. You don't have to have had an HVX infection to know this. Paint the hosta top and bottom of each leaf with concentrated Roundup (Glyphosate) with a couple of shots of Dawn dishwashing detergent mixed in. Roundup says that their process is systemic and will kill weeds down to the roots in, at maximum, one month. Hostas may be tougher than the average weed so I recommend the concentrate and maybe repeat after a week. After it is shriveled up then it should be dead down to the roots and the virus as well. After a few months then it would seem to me there is no live tissue in the ground. The only real question is, how do you most effectively kill a hosta. Now, many of you may have a lot of experience in this. Not having killed one, I am an amateur. I can't think of any method that kills to the root more effectively than glyphosate. Have I done any experiments to prove this, no. All I know is that it makes ultimately more sense than taking a shovel and slicing into an HVX filled hosta. This is like a surgeon cutting into a festering infection. It makes absolutely no sense at all.

Jill, I got the 'MERIT GRANULES 5G' from Primary Products. The 30 lb bag cost $98.99 + $12.95 for shipping to Ohio. Their phone number is: 1-800-841-6630. This was recommended by the owner of Hilltop Gardens. He told me that he never used it, but knows someone that did and says that it DOES work on nematodes. He also told me that it should be applied in early spring. I didn't learn about it until mid June. This stuff isn't labeled to kill nematodes, but if it works I don't care what the label says it's really for. I need to find out if it's possible to overdose the soil with it and do harm to the hostas by using too much. I also need to find out how often it should be applied. ____________________________________________________________ Mary, you said, "Of course I then looked at my H and "saw" nematode damage everywhere!!!" Have you ever heard the saying, "ignorance is bliss?" Frankly, I think that I enjoyed my gardens much more when I was ignorant about nematodes, HVX and voles. I now do more inspecting and less admiring. I remember the good ol days when I just grabbed a shovel and dug a hole...NOW a nearly sterile technique has to be used to dig a stupid hole in the ground. Even touching a leaf brings paranoid thoughts. Yep, ignorance is bliss. SASSY

Indeed Jean I did let things get seriously out of hand. ;) As I said at the beginning, I am guilty of neglect for sure. I had stopped watering mostly as all the plants were done for the season and I just didn't have the chance to pull everything out until yesterday. I'm in SoCal and our hot dry fall made for the perfect storm of stressed plants and environmental conditions. It also never rains here and never freezes - so nothing to "reset" the system, or keep populations manageable. This was almost a science experiment. If it hadn't been a terrible accident. ;) Like I said, I wasn't trying to save the plants, so I did exactly what you said Ken right away. Thus getting covered in mites. (shudder). See picture for what it looks like now. There is about 24" of space between the wall and the trellis. It's not the wall's fault tho - plants were fine this summer except for a couple of scorching days. And Jean, I know they don't *really* live in the soil - but so many fell off the plants as I cut them down I guess I was wondering what to do about remaining populations. For instance, if I plant peas right now I don't think they'll have a chance. ?? Ken you think let it lay fallow till spring? What about a cover crop? I hate to leave it "naked" and clover maybe would provide some benefits to the soil? Here in LA winter is my season for kale, lettuce, peas, beets, carrots etc....but the weather has been so terrible for pests (I had terrible powdery mildew as well) I'm wondering if the soil should take a break....

Hi tn_veggie_gardner - If the area was only growing wildflowers and not any noxious grasses or plants that are hard to get rid of, I would just fill it in with some compost. Hopefully you have some kind of compost facility around your area where you can get a truckload for cheap. You also could put down a layer of plastic (much like landscape fabric) before filling in the bed. But if you don't mind doing some weeding for the first year, I wouldn't use anything - but just fill er in! Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog