The University of Minnesota in [ http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/p151nematodesfoliar.html ] state: Aphelenchoides fragariae have broad host ranges and are capable of infecting hundreds of species of plants. In addition to broad host range, there are few effective nematicides labeled for home use. In [ http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5337023 ] they show a photo of damage on an azalea showing the v-shaped holes. They are listed as pests of both rhododendron and azaleas, though not much is reported on this, so the occurrence must be very rare There are reports from Belgium and Brazil.

What a bummer. Well, I got the two plantaginea from Seawright, Steve. Last September. They overwintered in the pots from the nursery. Then I potted them together as they began emerging. A new pot, new nursery soil, but I did not bare root them. I have the Lakeside Kaleidoscope which was sitting at the base of the plantaginea pedestal, and it is looking suspiciously nematodish too, but not as bad. It came from Seawright as well. The other plants acquired from there are looking fine. I do not know anything about tracking down the source of the foliar nematode problem, but I feel certain it was from the garden here. Where these plants overwintered they were covered in leaves, got rained on repeatedly, and it was not a really cold winter. Whether that factors in I cannot say, but it wasn't the sort of winter hosta expect to have. Steve, why do you think the plantaginea would be tissue cultured? Is that the way most of them enter the nursery trade, and are grown out only? I guess there might have been a fancy tag on the nursery pots (6" I think), but to be honest right now, I cannot remember a thing. I am so really distressed by this. I need to meditate a while and gather myself for strength required to deal with this problem. Thank goodness my DH is busy getting the shade frame ready for the cloth covering the Back Forty hosta corral. Then I can haul in the bark and compost load which was dumped on our drive over a week ago. I'm creating a mound and totally raised area where I can presently stage the pots in the sides and top of the mound. A bit later on, I should have the area civilized enough to think about planting some big guys directly into the (raised) soil and bark. Because my next load of stuff will be only pine bark. It has multiple uses, and looks really good. Lot of pine bark here in the south. Once they move to their new location, I can spread them apart more, and keep any water from splashing on other plants. I was guilty of washing falling blossoms off the leaves--bad idea I realize, should have used a round sable brush, long handled maybe. Monet would have done that, I bet. Ken, based on the presence of foliar nematodes this early in the year, what exactly does that tell you about my zone? A lot more than the temperature and zone number does? I'd appreciate your insight, because the measures I must take seem to require a decisive draconian approach. I need to eat breakfast. Not a happy camper today. :/ But.....I shall prevail, one way or another.

Ok, here's the results of my two day experiement. Tested 10 leaves parts from Manhattan with different degress of browning between the veins. None of them showed any signs of the wiggly worms like I saw in the video. So I went back to the woods, grabbed a couple of leaves that looked like they might have nematodes and dropped one in the water. Low and behold, within minutes, there were the little guys wiggling. However, they only wiggled for a short time and then floated to the top of the water and stopped wiggling. Wondering if the high levels of chlorine in our water had anything to do with this experiment, I soaked a second tree leaf in Ice Mountain bottled water. Again, within minutes, there were little guys wiggling, however these guys didn't stop wiggling like the other ones did. I thought about a post I had read about Pauline Banayai and bleach and happened to have a bottle of bleach that was waiting to go downstairs to the laundry room. I grabbed it and dropped maybe a quarter of a teaspon into the water. It was instant death to those wiggly things. Manhattan was planted very early in the spring in the back of my garden that borders the woods. I actually had to cover it in early May during a frost warning. I figured that if this one got nematodes it could have been from 1) the nursery I got it from, 2) from the leaves that I hadn't cleaned up in this area when it was planted or 3) the nematodes are in the soil. Manhattan could have been susceptible to nematodes because of frost damage. No other hostas in the area show any signs of nematode damage. Since Manhattan has very few leaves left, I'm going to cut the rest off, dig it up and soak it in bleach. Then, I'll stick it in a pot and isolate it and see what happens with it next year. I also found an article from the Society of Nematologists in which an experiment showed that some hostas were not infected when they tried to transmit nematodes to it. During the experiment they had leaves that were intentionally injured by scraping them with a needle. Love Pat (which happens to be next to my Manhattan) did not get infected with the nematodes when the leaf was not injured. There were four hostas that did not get nematodes on either the injured or uninjured leaves. Fragrant Blue happens to be one of them. I have a nice sized Fragrant Blue that I love. Since I only paid $5.99 for it and can replace it if I need to, I'm going to sacrifice it for this experiment and put it in the spot that Manhattan is currently in (with fresh soil). We'll see what happens next year. I'll post the results. Anyways, this is what a seriously OCD person does on the weekend when it rains outside and the mosquitoes are horrible. Gesila Here is a link that might be useful: Results

From Bill Meyers To forestall any confusion generated by the latest "announcement" from the AHS about their nematode study, hopefully this will clear the air. Foliar nematodes begin the season by emerging from where they hide in dormant buds and from the soil. They climb the petioles when they are wet and get into the leaves. Once in the leaves they feed on the cells and reproduce like crazy. Because they can't cross the veins in the leaves, they soon overpopulate the food supply there and start coming out on the surface of the leaves, also when they are wet. This starts not long after you start seeing symptoms in mid-summer. Those wash off into the soil or onto touching plants. The ones in the soil look for another plant to get into, and can survive on fungal organisms. If there is no plant or food source they can go dormant and stay that way for years if they need to. In the fall as the leaves die, some of those still in the leaves head back down the petiole to hide in the dormant buds, some stay in the leaves, and some drop to the soil. In spring the cycle begins again. ----------------------------------------------------- All of the above has been known for years, with the latest information there being the part about dormant buds being a place where they hide. That was discovered in Grewal's 2006 study. It has been stated in numerous articles that some overwinter in dead leaves for decades.