virus protection

[robsorchids]

i can see on my bed of narcissus many are virused, because the many galanthus are grown close by i fear about them also becoming infected

if i place a layer of fleece over them now, propped up by some sticks for good air flow, in theory this would keep out the main spreaders which are the aphids.

is this feasible?

also if i sprayed both now with something like say, provado to systematically kill any aphids , would this help?

i know many are going to tell me to destory the daffs but i dont really want to go down that road at the moment.

also the fleece would stop any bulb fly from getting to the leaves which is what i plan to do anyway, so if i put up the fleece now i can protect from the virus, all of the flowers are over now so i won't be missing anything 

rob

[Maggi Young]

Well, Rob, you've guessed already what i am going to say... get   rid of them.... but your plan with the fleece is at least a good attempt to isolate the problem.

[Ezeiza]

Hi Rob and Maggi:

 
An important source of infection are nematodes that attack the roots. No fleece would stop them from moving around.

Slugs and snails are also efficient in spreading virus.

Our sympathies to Rob but the next step would be to destroy the narcissi AND the galanthi. We have all felt this discomfort on one or several occasions but viruses only move in one direction: forward.


Kind regards

[Ezeiza]

Hi Rob:

           It is a nightmare indeed.

           Not many years ago we purchased samples of 70 daffodil cultivars from a firm in England and each and every one was virused from their very sprouting. Thanks all the gods we strictly quarantine every single thing into the collection and there was a big, big fire by those days over here.

           In case your nitrogen is not too high, I wonder if some of your daffs could be healthy so far and therefore worth keeping. Fortunately virus in daffodils show several manifestations that are helpful in detecting it.


Good luck

[mark smyth]

Rob Narcissus fly aren't out until June

[Gerard Oud]

Rob, also the nematodes will get more active when the soiltemperature is rising.

[KentGardener]

there is a storm coming soon

make sure it doesn't blow away Rob!