There are some snowdrops, like “Augustus” and “Clare Blakeway-Phillips” that seem to live quite happily with the virus that they carry, whereas other snowdrops can become weakened or disfigured.

Once infected with virus there is no cure so the plants should really be discarded or grown in isolation from other snowdrops. Virus is not carried into the seeds. I am currently trying to grow some seed raised stock of “Clare B-P” to see how it differs from its parent.

Infection is spread by the exchange of sap, which could be caused by any leaf sucking aphid or by bulb eating nematodes, but the most common cause of infection, I believe, is by the gardener. The practise of dead heading is a way that minute particles of sap can be transferred from one plant to another. If you pull off a seed pod you will notice that a small amount of colourless sap will leak from the stem or pedicel and reside on your finger tips. If you then pull off another seed pod there could be a transfer of sap from your finger tips to this second plant. This is how I believe that I infected some of my plants approx 10 years ago while dead heading some narcissus “Thalia” which had virus. I no longer dead head my snowdrops and I no longer grow narcissus. If you need to remove any part of a snowdrop plant then I would advise either wiping your fingers or scalpel/knife in meths between each plant.

If a scalpel or knife is used to detach offsets from bulbs make sure that the entire blade is wiped with meths between each bulb.

Unless you are vigilant plants that are infected can go unnoticed for several seasons until the symptoms become obvious. If in any doubt as to whether a plant has virus, then a safe-guard would be to grow the plant for a following season away from other snowdrops.

A plant with virus may show any of the following symptoms :-

  

Leaves – colour break up appearing as streaks or blocks. In some varieties as the leaves elongate they become thin at the base, causing them to flop.

Stem – overall pale in colour with darker green blotches. In very weak plants the stem can not support the weight of the developing flower so it will flop.

Flower – the flower may fail to open. There is colour break up on the inner segment mark.

Ovary – this again can show signs of colour break up.

 

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