The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

Stripy tulips - nasty virus

essex, England Eng

to my horror yesterday i discovered that one of my varieties of tuips covered in brown stripes! i know that this is a pretty nasty virus as all the flowers are also distorted and translucent. so i went quickly out there this morning to remove them and distroy them before the virus spread, onto other plants - as i understand it can do. anyway i had them planted in two places. one in amonst a carpet bungle - which was also showing signs of infection, so i just dug out the whole clup of soil containing all the tulips and infected bungle and filled the hole with new soil. but the other ones were pretty much on there own. so when i dug them up the bulbs came out of the soil on there own. there is a rose, sedum and hebe planted nearby, none of which seem to be infected, and obviously i have cleaned my tools and thrown away the gloves used ect, but my question is this, what about the soil? should i remove the soil they were growing in? or is there something i should do to it to prevent futher infection? i don't plan on planting anything in it just yet but i have just ordered some new ground cover plants that will be coming in about a months time that would fill these two gaps nicely. what are your thoughts on this please?


On plant Tulipa

Viurs

Answers

 

OH NO POOR YOU:( im so Sorry2hear all about this your Tulips looked so good Ang (BIG HUG)

11 Mar, 2008

 

:(

11 Mar, 2008

 

i know pretty gutted! T & M again! i have had no end of problem with them last year! daffs that came up blind. geraniums delivered mouldy and now these tulips! and i don't think it has come from something else in the garden as they were in two seprate places and both have it! not only that i have read up on this type of virus and it usually comes from tulips and can spread onto other things if left. the only thing that seems to have been infected is the carpet bungle - and i know there was'nt a problem with this before the tulips come up - and i think it is spread by touch, as my book tells me to wash all tools, hands, gloves ect but says nothing about the soil! - i have been waiting for 9am to ring T & M for another complaint and refund - ohhh look its half past - gonna go and give them a good grilling! let you know how i get on!

11 Mar, 2008

 

looking it up on the net, it looks like its probably Tulip Fire, a fungal disease. Often develops on rotting foliage and is then spread by heavy rain that damages the leaves etc. The site mentioned planting deeper than recommended to avoid so many tulip problems. Also recommended you remove foliage once the bulbs (if you plant any new ones) die down, and add plenty of grit to improve drainage.

What did T & M say, by the way???

11 Mar, 2008

 

thanks for the imput Hazel, - don't think this is tulip fire - but i did find refference to another virus (un-named one) which was listed seprately to tulip fire, that has brown stripes on the leaves as mine dose - in fact the picture in the book was almost exact! and they are new bulbs, which to be honest did'nt look the best when i put them in, but i thought i would give them a chance. anyway this virus is a bit worse than tulip fire, all plants must be distroyed. although it is most common on tulips, and usually starts on them, - it can infect various other plants too. i have got rid of them just incase! T & M a ridiculous company - never using them again, they have cocked all sorts up! while on the phone complaining i asked them to check on my back orders- just as well i did because it looks like some have been councelled without my authorisation and no refund has appeared on my credit card statements, - and they have all been paid for up front! well the lady i spoke to just could'nt work out what had gone wronge with my account and to be honest was'nt very helpful anyway. so i have raised mary hell, told them i want all orders cancelled and refunded - well i now have to wait till a superviser can ring me back after 12pm, - looks like someone has made a right mess of my account! so we will see what happens - i might even write a blog on it! lol

11 Mar, 2008

 

You're not alone majeek. I gave up on T&M a couple of years ago after multiple problems with them - wrong stuff delivered, plants delivered when I was on holiday, customer service not replying to me ("we were busy!"). Not surprised they are busy if there service is cr*p!!

11 Mar, 2008

 

I didnt realise the brown stripes on the Tulip leaves was a prob !!! , when I read this I looked out my window and there was a stripey brown leaf waving at me , I went straight out and dug it up and got rid of it , Thank you !

11 Mar, 2008

Sid
Sid
 

Erm.....I don't want to alarm anybody, but I was curious about this stripy leaf thing as I too thought it was normal on some varieties. So, I looked up tulips in my RHS encyclopaedia and for some varieties it does indeed describe leaf markings : T. kaufmanniana and hybrids, '...[leaves] are sometimes marked bronze, red or purple'. And T. greigii '[leaves] have dark bluish maroon markings'. There is also a picture of T. 'Giuseppe Verdi' which has distinct reddish-brown stripes. Sorry folks...... :-s

When you say the flower is distorted, it looks in my book like the sort they call a 'goblet' shape - it is very narrow and the petals point outwards at the top - I think this is what you have. I think it's very early tho and the slugs have had a go at it. Poor thing!

12 Mar, 2008

 

So do you think those holes where made by slugs/snails then Sid&the colours ANatural Thing?

12 Mar, 2008

Sid
Sid
 

Yes, Jac. I think I'll go hide now......

12 Mar, 2008

 

??????????????????? UT O !

12 Mar, 2008

 

Oh dear Majeek, my other half agrees with Sid I'm afraid. He says that the holes do indeed look as though they've been attacked by slugs and the stripey leaves come with the variety of tulip. We plant several varieties with striped leaves. Whoooops!!!

13 Mar, 2008

 

hi all, yes i do agree the holes are indeed slug damage, but the strip on the leave i have to disagree, i do have some greigii tulips with stripe on the leaf and it is not like this and also i found a picture of this virus in my plant expert book and the stripes on my tulips are exact to this picture. i did origanlly think that the stripe on the leaves was just the way that the tulip is when they first come up but as it has got bigger they just don't look right at all, they are not proper stripes like you would expect on a varigated leaf variety they are more like dotted lines! i do know that all varigated plants come from a virus, just means that varigated plants do not grow as quickly ect. but this info said quite clearly that it is a fatal virus and plants should be removed and and distroyed and thanks Sid for pointing out about the 'goblet' shape, but i have seen many before, speaking as a florist we often use these types of tulip and they arrive in a tight bud so i get to see them at all stages, one which can think of is 'Aladin' beautiful tangerine scent but the buds on my tulips are translucent and defo distorted, i supect that they are proberly 'goblet' shape anyway but the are not as they should be at this stage. futher more my carpet bungle and drumstick plants which were planted around these tulips are also showing signs of virus. and i know that these two plants where perfectly healthy before - i do realise that evergreen perennals can suffer a bit of leaf distortion and discolouring after heavy frost, which we have had recently, but i have both of these plants in other places in the garden and they are fine. ofcourse i could be wrong - but i don't think so, the bulbs were a bit soft when i put them in, and to be honest i should have rang up and compained then but i just could'nt be bothered with the hassle of it - i have had nothing but problems with T & M recently and it's never a quick fix with them! anyway i gues we will find out if am wrong as i have sent pictures of the offending tulips to them with a complaint letter. thanks all for your help, and if it is just the way the tulips are to be honest they arent that nice so getting rid of them is no big deal! lol i'll keep you all posted!

13 Mar, 2008

Sid
Sid
 

Hi Majeek - hope T&M cough up - give em hell! I've been on the net looking for pics of tulip diseases - there are so few pictures tho! Sounds like you're right about the virus - those stripes do indeed look very odd...

13 Mar, 2008

Sid
Sid
 

Hi Majeek - I was just wandering round my garden this morning (before the rain started) and guess what I found?!

I've just posted a picture - I have a whole clump of stripy tulips just like yours! There is anther clump right next door, but they look Ok. They were all just planted last autumn by my mum, so I don;t know what variety they are. I had a close look and the spots do look fairly healthy - they're not dead spots, but I will monitor the situation!

15 Mar, 2008

How do I say thanks?

Answer question

Related photos

  • Pulchella (Tulipa acuminata)
    Janette
  • Tulip Black Parrot (Tulipa)
    Janette
  • Tulip 'Daydream' (Tulipa humilis (Tulip))
    Greenthumb
  • April Tulips (tulipa)
    Janey

Related products

 


Related questions

Not found an answer?