It’s time to shop for spring garden plants. And buyers should
be careful not to
bring home unwanted hitchhikers with their new additions.

Worming their way into your
home

University of Georgia
plant pathologists say a foliar
nematode, or microscopic worm, is making its way into home
gardens and landscapes by
hitching a ride on plant hosts.

“This nematode has been found on up to 200 host plants,
including vegetables,
herbaceous perennials, flowering annuals, houseplants —
really, just about any
plant,” said Jean
Woodward, a plant pathologist
with the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.

Woodward should know. She’s been tracking the tiny
destroyer since graduate school,
when she studied its effects on alfalfa in Wyoming.

“Here in Georgia, I’ve seen it on hosta, helleborus,
verbena, heuchera, ferns and
begonias,” Woodward said.

Nematodes’
damage

The nematode causes leaf decay and discoloration and
stunts plants’ growth. But it
doesn’t kill the plants.

“It lives in the leaf and kills the tissue as it
feeds,” Woodward said.
“Infested leaves may have yellow, red, purple or tan
spots. Not many people recognize
the spots as being caused by foliar nematodes.”

The nematode feeds in the leaf area between the veins,
which results in discolored
angular spots or long streaks, depending on the vein
pattern of the leaf.

On hostas, she said, the nematode looks like additional
stripes. In helleborus, it
looks like angular purple spots. “People see the spots on
helleborus and think it’s
just sunburning or scorching,” Woodward said.

Keep them out to start
with

To make sure the nematode doesn’t make its way to your
home, watch for signs of disease
when you buy garden plants. “Don’t buy anything that looks
like it has a
disease,” Woodward warns. “If looks abnormal, don’t buy
it.”

If you already have the nematode in your home garden,
it’s not too late to get rid of
it.

If in, still
treatable

“Just clip back all the leaves on your plant,” Woodward
said. “If you
get rid of the leaves, you’ll get rid of most of the
nematodes.”

After you cut the leaves from the infected plant,
remove them from your garden site.

“Don’t even compost the leaves, because you’ll be
saving the nematodes,”
Woodward said. “If you save the leaves, the nematodes will
remain there all year. And
they’ll be back next spring.”

If you need help identifying the nematode, take a sample
cutting to your county
Extension Service office.