Leaf Disease w/pics

[st3v3]

It looks like i am going to loose my whole crop to TSWV. I pulled the first one that i positively identified based on what i learned here. A couple of days later i had another that i had to pull, and yesterday i had to pull 5 more. The remainder are showing signs, but i did not pull them, i figure if i am right about it, they will be showing much more today when i get home from work. I'm anticipating having to pull them this afternoon. WOW, what an introduction to this problem... I have been growing tomatoes for quite a few years, and this is the first time i have ever had TSWV.

I'm sort of unsure about how to proceed. I have a couple of little ones which i potted up into 4" cups thinking i could use them as replacements if need be. I've been spraying them w/ neem oil every few days. Yesterday when i was inspecting them closely, i found a thrip on one of them. I guess i could just keep trying to get some started, but i'm really frustrated at this point. The plants i pulled up yesterday were over two feet tall and had quite a few tomatoes on them. I realize the window of opportunity for having *any* tomatoes this summer is rapidly closing.

Any suggestions about how to proceed in dealing with this would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks

[georgiacracker]

Man, that is tough to have to deal with. It has been about a week since I had the 1st one. Nothing else has showed up yet...

[b54red]

Originally Posted by st3v3

It looks like i am going to loose my whole crop to TSWV. I pulled the first one that i positively identified based on what i learned here. A couple of days later i had another that i had to pull, and yesterday i had to pull 5 more. The remainder are showing signs, but i did not pull them, i figure if i am right about it, they will be showing much more today when i get home from work. I'm anticipating having to pull them this afternoon. WOW, what an introduction to this problem... I have been growing tomatoes for quite a few years, and this is the first time i have ever had TSWV.

I'm sort of unsure about how to proceed. I have a couple of little ones which i potted up into 4" cups thinking i could use them as replacements if need be. I've been spraying them w/ neem oil every few days. Yesterday when i was inspecting them closely, i found a thrip on one of them. I guess i could just keep trying to get some started, but i'm really frustrated at this point. The plants i pulled up yesterday were over two feet tall and had quite a few tomatoes on them. I realize the window of opportunity for having *any* tomatoes this summer is rapidly closing.

Any suggestions about how to proceed in dealing with this would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks

Don't give up yet. If I can grow tomatoes down here then you should certainly be able to do it in Athens. I am a couple of hundred miles south of you. One year I lost over 50 plants from my plant out. That is how I got started with staggered planting. I ended up getting my tomatoes in the ground on June 16 of that year because it took me so long to grow new ones from seed.

Surprisingly that was a terrific year for me though a bit late. I was picking tomatoes about the same time as people up north but I had the advantage of them growing til late December. The trick is to heavily mulch the area before planting so the ground is cooler and water the area a day or two before planting. I have found that cypress mulch which is usually available for less than 2 dollars a bag a Lowes is the best at retaining moisture and keeping the ground cool. Pull the mulch aside and plant then push the mulch back in place and don't water for several days. Watering when setting them out seems to increase the death from bacterial wilt in that first week or two after planting. Make sure you have plenty of plants for replacements if any die early. I have made tomatoes off plants set out as late as the first week in September but that is pushing it.

When the plants are blooming heavily over water them a bit and give them a little dose of Miracle Grow. This seems to encourage fruit set in hot weather. Once you have a decent fruit set and before the fruits get large go back to regular watering or you will have splitting fruit and tasteless tomatoes.

Make sure to keep the plants pruned enough to allow some air flow and keep them sprayed weekly with Daconil.

It is hard to do and the plants will not usually produce as much fruit nor as large during the very hot weather but they do taste even better. The best varieties I have found for later planting are Big Beef, Indian Stripe, Spudakee, Cherokee Purple, Zogola, Stump of the World, Black Krim, Marianna's Peace, Dana's Dusky Rose, Lumpy Red, Dr. Wyches Yellow and JD's Special C Tex.

[st3v3]

Thank you very much for the tips b54red... I'm not about to give up... the frustration is turning into determination

One of the things that i love about gardening is that you learn something every year.

It sounds like staggered planting is the best option to combat this scourge.

I have some better boys which i bought from Lowes in a 4 pack which i've potted up to 4" cups and if they fill the cups out w/o getting the disease, i'll plant em in the ground. I did replace one of my plants w/ a Big Beef in a 3" cup (also from Lowes). My garden must be quite a bit smaller than yours; i had a total of 12 tomatoes when the virus hit, but most years i only grow about half that many. This is my first year of trying the heirlooms.

At any rate, i really appreciate the encouragement; i'll try the hot weather tips. The ones that i believe have the disease which i have not pulled yet, still seem to be growing (2 sugar lumps and 1 cherokee purple), but i'm sure the right thing to do is to go ahead and pull them (right ??).

Do you find that the thrips get to be less of a problem as the summer progresses ?? Also, i'm using neem oil to try and control insects; would you suggest something different?? I did my plant-out w/ Actinovate, and am using Daconil on a weekly basis like you suggested.