Simple Sensible Solutions

Plant Health
Walters Gardens has made a strong commitment to provide only the
most healthy, vigorous product to our customers. All of our crops are
tested regularly for the most common viruses as well as additional
genus-specific viruses where needed. Our fields and greenhouses are
also regularly scouted for signs of pests or diseases. In addition to the
dedicated efforts of our Growers and Plant Health Team, we make an
effort company-wide to maintain clean and preventative practices to
limit the spread and introduction of pests, diseases, and viruses.
How to Identify
Virus-Indexed Plants (VIP)
A virus-indexed variety is one that has been tested and deemed
free of the viruses listed (right) up to the point of testing. A bow
tie symbol is located in the key code of each variety that has
been virus-indexed.
Sustainable Production Practice
and Integrated Pest Management
In the Fields
Understanding the vital importance of plant health, we remain
vigilant in preventing problems in our fields. Before a crop is planted
in the field, we make sure our planting stock is clean and diseasefree.
We then diversify our plantings so that disease prone items are
never planted in the same place twice. All of the equipment used
to plant and harvest our hosta stock blocks is sanitized between
cultivars. We also scout weekly for weeds, insect damage, unusual
variations in growth, trueness to type, and overall plant health.
In the Greenhouse
Prevention is key when it comes to pest and disease management
in our greenhouses. We do weekly scouting for any pest, disease, or
nutritional issues and do preventative spraying in regular intervals
to prevent the onset of disease. Our goal is to catch problems at the
earliest stage possible and to target the treatment to the specific
crop before it spreads to other plants. When treatment is needed,
we use beneficial insects or reduced-risk pesticides which target
specific pests rather than using broad spectrum chemicals. We have
not used neonicotinoid containing products on our production crops
since 2014.
Virus Prevention and Index
We take great pride in the attentiveness of our Plant Health and
Greenhouse staff when it comes to identifying and preventing viruses
in our plants. All of our plants are tested on a regular basis regardless
of appearance or history. Because there is always risk of a crop being
exposed to a virus, and more so in a field environment, we will not
give VIP status to a variety if we feel there is too much risk of infection
between testing and shipping. If a variety is prone to viral infection,
extra steps are taken to ensure that our stock and production lines
always start with clean material.
Plants are tested here at Walters Gardens, Inc. for the viruses listed
below and are designated with a bow tie symbol.
General Perennials
• Alfalfa Mosaic Virus (AMV)
• Alternanthera/Papaya Mosaic Virus (AltMV/PapMV)
• Arabis Mosaic Virus (ArMV)
• Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV)
• Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV)
• Potyvirus Group (POTY)
• Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)
• Tobacco Ringspot Virus (TRSV)
• Tobacco Streak Virus (TSV)
• Tomato Aspermy Virus (TAV)
• Tomato Ringspot Virus (ToRSV)
• Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)
Dianthus
• 12 General Perennial tests
• Carnation Etched Ring Virus (CERV)
• Carnation Latent Virus (CLV)
• Carnation Mottle Virus (CarMV)
• Carnation Necrotic Fleck Virus (CNFV)
• Carnation Ringspot Virus (CRSV)
Hosta
• Arabis Mosaic Virus (ArMV)
• Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV)
• Hosta Virus X (HVX)
• Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV)
• Tobacco Ringspot Virus (TRSV)
• Tobacco Streak Virus (TSV)
• Tomato Ringspot Virus (ToRSV)
• Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)
Anemone, Astilbe, Dicentra, Epimedium, Iris, Paeonia
• 12 General Perennial tests
• Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV)
34 | Walters Gardens