Is This Lily Virus?

i have read a bit about lily virus on this forum. i got all my lilies last year and havent gotten any new ones since then. well, yesterday a lily bloomed that looks odd. so, is this probably due to a virus?

tracie

The pink one has a break in color which looks to me like the lily virus. I'd get it out of there.

Thought I'd dredge this up (sorry debi_z). This is a pretty good example of virus infection.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=999729

I'm not sure about yours, aggiegrl. It could be washed out color. But my mantra is, when in doubt take it out; especially if you have a lot of lilies.

Magnolia/Pard,

Isn't an indication of a virus not only the flower but when the foliage is twisted and deformed?

oh, crud! i was afraid of that. :( that bloom just opened yesterday, so it is not washed out. some of my white blooms also have twisted petals. would that be a virus? i know that lily should be a solid pink. so, what happens if you dont get rid of an infected plant? i mean, i know the virus can spread to the other lilies, but what then?

tracie

I found it best to control sucking insects on my lilies. The last two years I have sprayed for aphids and that has helped a lot.

As far as the twisting leaves, I don't know, but there is a strong discoloration of leaves with very heavy streaking that is an indicator of virus.

Here's a link to a lily I had a couple of years ago that had not a chlorosis, but a virus.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3714117

Another view of the same lily and its leaves:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3714123

Tracie, have you looked very closely for tiny insects on the leaves/petals (thrips, spider mites, aphids...)? Any sucking insect that can move from plant to plant will spread it. If you don't get rid of the plant (and also prevent the disease from spreading), the lilies will go into a decline and be gone, all the while the virus can continue to spread, even into a neighbor's garden.

Last year I posted a pic of a virused glad on the glad forum that was growing right next to my Boogie Woogie. And Boogie had twisted leaves! So out they both went. I guess I missed a piece of Boogie because it came back up twisted this year also; another good indication. So far everything else in proximity looks OK. Funny, my post on the glad forum garnered little interest other than it looked "pretty"!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5514617

so, the virus will actually eventually kill the plant? crud, double crud!! i did have some spider mites earlier in the spring. i do spray for bugs, but got some anyway. i stuffed all my lilies in one raised bed due to my garden move last year. so, everything is very crowded. here is a pic. the pink one that is shown above in at the left front. the white ones that are shown in the next post are right behind the pink one.

tracie

This message was edited May 23, 2009 9:46 PM

so these look funny to you? twisted petals?

tracie

Lol pard! We go from lilium paranoia to "pretty". That was one funky looking glad.

Hmmm...... have you had some hot weather there? The white ones looked burned from the sun (some cultivars burn very easily; note the brown damage on the buds).

I think your white lily looks OK. Not sure that a twisted petal here and there is cause for worry.

There are a few that I'm concerned about

hot weather? in East Texas? LOL oh, yeah! it was actually up to 90 degrees the other day. it cooled down to the mid 80's after that. the bed is in the full sun, no shade all day long. well, that makes me feel a bit better about the white ones. my Red Dutch also had some browning on the outside of the buds. but the look fine once they opened.

tracie

Moby that one looks as wild as mine did. You can certainly see the difference between a freak (in a lily, of course) and chlorosis.

Out with it Moby! An excellent example of symptoms in the leaves. Notice that the 2 shades of green are well defined and not a gradation from one shade to another. I must tag this page for reference....

Are we disagreeing on this one mags? I would be pretty nervous about keeping it in my garden...

Pard ~ maybe we should get some good (definitive) pics together and make a 'sticky' thread regarding virus? Just a thought ~ might take a while to put together.

I would get it out of there. No, I am with you on this one. I just found your glad posting and the comments that followed to show an interesting difference between forums.

A brand new opened lily with that coloration on day one would be out of my garden.

Tracie, regarding the pink one, are there brown "burn" spots on the buds also (similar to the white one)? Some varieties of lilies burn very easily in the sun and the blooms come out a bit unsightly.

i will check tomorrow for burn marks. thanks

tracie

Regarding the original pink lily in the first post here, I am not sure it is virused either. As pard says, distinctly delineated discoloration, rather than fading in and out, is the typical virus symptom. Is that the only plant of that lily variety you have (in other words, anything to compare it with)?

The white ones just looked stressed.

Twisted and deformed leaves can be a virus symptom, but may not be. In addition, virused lilies may or may not show symptoms in the leaves.

i am sure i have others of that variety. however, since all my lilies were placed in this bed (due to lack of space at the new place), they are no longer labeled.

i had a thought this morning. i was out checking to see if there was brown spots on the outside of the buds and saw spots on some of the leaves. then it occured to me. a couple of weeks ago i sprayed all my daylilies and lilies with a couple of chemicals that i mixed in my pump sprayer, daconil (a fungicide) and an insecticide. i had just seen my first spider mites on the tips of the lilies and i sprayed that day. anyway, i noticed that the open flowers had bleach like spots where the spray got on them. i dont know if it was the combination of chemicals or what, because i have sprayed both of them seperately before many times without that happening. so, i am wondering if that spray caused damage/discoloration to the outside of the bud, maybe it is what is causing the weird color on the inside?

tracie

It's possible.

FYI, it's a bad thing to mix any pesticides together, unless the directions say you can. Perhaps you were following directions. Otherwise, you just never know how they will react with each other. A very possible reaction is rapid volitilization of a chemical. Unknowingly, you breath it in and get knock out (or maybe just sick or who knows)!

And it is not only the active ingredients you need to worry about. The inert ingredients may not be inert anymore.

It's very scary to mix things you don't know about. I hope everyone realizes how extremely serious this is.

This message was edited May 24, 2009 9:44 PM

OOooooo...I have one that looks like Moby's! I have been watching all spring....I just knew it should go.

Nanny and Moby, if you know the variety of lilies that are virused could you please post that here? I am starting to keep records of these reports. It would also be helpful if you can recall how long you have had the lily.

Hi Pard,

You can start your list with Lollypop. That virused for me last year, after many years happliy growing up here in Winnipeg/

Cheers
inanda aka ginny --- watching 2" of rain we are supposed to get today.

Great idea Pard!

Am including a shot to make sure it is virused. Mine is Casa Blanca.

Plant #1

Plant #2 also Casa Blanca...

I have had several diseased oriental lilies named 'Pink Mystery'. It always looks so good and now I have had it virused times two, so last year, out she went. I have also seen virus in year two of 'Robina', the OT. I think Ticker was here last year to see it live. Just for the record.

I'm not so sure about yours, nanny. Notice that yours has dark green along the veins and lighter green between the veins. This can indicate a nutrition problem.

Closely compare to Moby's:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=6589432

Notice that on her lily, the color is sharply disrupted between the veins, indicating cell damage by virus. You might try a tablespoon or two of epsom salts in a gallon of water around these plants. That cleared it up for me on a small stand of Scheherazade lilies that had similar symptoms.

Okay...will try that!

Virused:
'Dizzy', 'Arabian Red', and 'Siberia' all from the same vendor which in turn infected my 'Golden Star Gazer'. I had planted them all together approx. 4 years before it showed in the leaves or blooms.
This is the photo of 'A. Red & Sib' before it showed, notice how nice and green the foliage is?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/124126/

I read on the B&D site that "Golden Stargazer was incredibly susceptible to viruses which is a reason they decided not to propagate it. I had seen it in catalogues but thankfully I never ordered it!

Thanks pixie. Four years seems like a long time between acquisition and appearance of symptoms to indicate it originated with the seller. But then again, I am not an expert! That is why I am collecting this information in order to study it and hopefully draw some conclusions that will in the end be helpful to all.

Steve, thanks for the info from B and D. I avoid adding lilies that I know to be susceptible to virus. In particular LAs and formossanum. OK, I was a sucker for Royal Sunset. So far so good after about 3 years!

I just pulled some that I think were 'Montezuma'-never even saw them bloom, but ick, leaves looked just like Moby's. I haven't had them for long but I don't remember where they came from.

I think a lily virus sticky is a terrific idea.

So susy, how long did you hve Montezuma?

Pard, Well, if I tell you then I'll have to admit I forgot all about them last spring and found them struggling along in the garage at the end of last summer..... :P

This year when they cam up they were scrawny, kind of short and foliage turned virusy just a week or so ago (or was it two?) However, they're gone now. I have a very hard time pulling lilies up even when I know they have to go, so I have to screw up my courage and yank quick....I am carefully watching the closest ones to them as well.

OK, Sue. I know absolutely nothing about your forgetting them in the garage last summer. Not a thing about them.

Good idea to watch out for the proximal ones...

pard, aren't tiger lilies also known to carry viruses? Too bad about the LA's - I have several varieties and many bulbs of each - but so far no indications of virus on any of them.