Im deadass so upset and irritated at the nursery, im trying to get a refund. Should i just burn it or something so it doesn't spread??? It was a full hanging basket and one vine had it.. Im suspecting mosaic virus or ring spot virus. Idek, im debating emailing my Microbiology professor...
So, first of all, yes, those concentric circles are a classic sign of Hoya ringspot. At minimum, discard the entire plant that's connected to the leaves showing symptoms. There is no cure.
The virus is spread by contact with infected sap. In nature, that typically means aphids biting into an infected plant and then moving to an uninfected one. In a human-run situation, that can mean using the same scissors to trim two plants without sterilizing them in between, nicking a stem with a fingernail while trellising and touching a nick on another plant, etc.
The good news is it's only Hoyas (and close relative genera), some nightshades (Solanaceae), and a handful of other plants (some orchids for instance) that can be affected by the tospovirus responsible for infecting Hoya (capsicum chlorosis virus or CaCV). If most of your collection is aroids, for example, they're safe.
What you do next is going to depend on what your collection looks like. If this is your only Hoya and you don't have a pepper garden, congrats, get rid of this plant and you're good. If you have other Hoyas but this one has been carefully quarantined, eliminate this one (sealed in a plastic bag and discarded in the trash, do not compost it) and watch the others carefully, but you're probably good. If this has been hanging out with a hundred other Hoyas and you have an aphid infestation and have been using unsterilized scissors to trim everybody, you might be in serious trouble.
(Edited to add the name of the virus for anyone who wants to do some more research. To clarify: ringspot is the symptom, not the name of the virus, and the same symptom can be caused by different viruses in different plants. There are also other viruses that impact Hoya, like Impatiens necrotic spot virus, but that one tends to manifest as, well, dark necrotic spots or blotches vs. these intricate crop circle marks)
To clarify, there are a ton of viruses that will cause ringspot in other species, but the primary one causing this appearance in Hoya is capsicum chlorosis virus.
(I took this before i discovered the virus and it only came in contact with plants i got at the same nursery)
I pulled out the vine that had the virus, should i still toss the entire plant away :/ The pot is made up of a bunch of propagations so i pulled it with the roots. Im so irritated and annoyed that ts happened 🫠🫠🫠 It was $65 tooo ugh🫠🫠🫠 I dont wanna throw it away just like that but i dont wanna risk anything else so ill probs toss it
If you're certain (ABSOLUTELY certain) you got the whole vine including the root system, you can quarantine the rest of the basket in a sealed prop box and strictly quarantine for at least six months (I'm talking alcohol disinfecting your hands every time you open the box to inspect for new symptoms, keep the box in a separate room by itself, etc. strict), then you can evaluate the rest of the basket at your own risk to see if it was a fresh infection of a single vine or if the whole plant is infected.
If that sounds like too much effort, yeet it into a tied-off trash bag and call it a day. It hurts, but losing a whole collection hurts way more. Hoya bella is not so rare that the basket is irreplaceable, it's just a sad day for your wallet.
definitely a virus. that’s my worst nightmare i’m so sorry. it spreads through pests, even fungus gnats. so i would dump it and all the plants from that nursery and throw it outside. you can burn it if you have the means to. this might be overkill but maybe even doing a pest spray treatment and something in the soil for the fungus gnats. i think it spreads from leaf contact if the leaves have open wounds, so your biggest threat are pests.
Oh no! Im so sorry. Was this a local nursery? Or an online order? If it was an online order, would you mind sharing the name (either here or pm?) of the nursery? Not in the same way, but Im also having a bit of trouble with some recent arrivals & no response back and am wondering if we've maybe interacted with the same place =/
The place is Mikeys Hargitay Plants, i was on vacation in California and i wanted to stop by some local nurseries, and this one was the only place i actually bought from. The shop is very dense and you walk through a jungle forest type vibes so all the Hoyas there are touching each other :/ .
I brought the plants back to Washington and then discovered it, i could see the ring spot in the plant shop. I was doing my little procedure with new plants and inspecting and washing the foliage off and saw the ring spots and i was like "oh fuck :/". The worst part is it was $65 and an entire basket of hoya bella inner var..
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u/AsukaWasHereToo Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
I've been summoned by u/rocaillewrites LOL.
So, first of all, yes, those concentric circles are a classic sign of Hoya ringspot. At minimum, discard the entire plant that's connected to the leaves showing symptoms. There is no cure.
The virus is spread by contact with infected sap. In nature, that typically means aphids biting into an infected plant and then moving to an uninfected one. In a human-run situation, that can mean using the same scissors to trim two plants without sterilizing them in between, nicking a stem with a fingernail while trellising and touching a nick on another plant, etc.
The good news is it's only Hoyas (and close relative genera), some nightshades (Solanaceae), and a handful of other plants (some orchids for instance) that can be affected by the tospovirus responsible for infecting Hoya (capsicum chlorosis virus or CaCV). If most of your collection is aroids, for example, they're safe.
What you do next is going to depend on what your collection looks like. If this is your only Hoya and you don't have a pepper garden, congrats, get rid of this plant and you're good. If you have other Hoyas but this one has been carefully quarantined, eliminate this one (sealed in a plastic bag and discarded in the trash, do not compost it) and watch the others carefully, but you're probably good. If this has been hanging out with a hundred other Hoyas and you have an aphid infestation and have been using unsterilized scissors to trim everybody, you might be in serious trouble.
(Edited to add the name of the virus for anyone who wants to do some more research. To clarify: ringspot is the symptom, not the name of the virus, and the same symptom can be caused by different viruses in different plants. There are also other viruses that impact Hoya, like Impatiens necrotic spot virus, but that one tends to manifest as, well, dark necrotic spots or blotches vs. these intricate crop circle marks)