Thrips and TSWV

[Heritage]

One last piece of advise for what it's worth. The use of Sevin (Carbaryl), especially overuse, will result in an explosion in the spider mite population. Spider mites are the equal of thrips when it comes to plant damage and they are at least as difficult to control.

Steve

[CarolynPhillips]

The herbicide truck did not spray anything right here but I am going to take a ride down the road and see what is out there.
I did order the CMV test strips with a 2 day delievery. Should be here by Thursday.
While watering some tomato plants in another area, I was inspecting the leaves and for bugs and didn't see any bugs except those gnats and saw the tops of 6ft plants that are growing in 25 gallon pots had some distorted curly leaves but not tight like the ones on the other side of the yard but they are close to the road and not all of the 20 plants have the problem . 5/20. I guess maybe I haven't noticed it because they are 7 to 8feet high up in the air.
Anyway......we will know without a doubt by thursday.

[Heritage]

Carolyn,

How confident are you that the gnats you are seeing are not 'winged' aphids? Under magnification would they look anything like the creatures in this link?
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/NR/...25/winged1.jpg

Steve

[CarolynPhillips]

OMgoodness
are those black winged bugs aphids? I didnt know aphids could be black or have wings like that.


my brain just shorted out

that is what my gnats look like

so....they aint gnats???????they aphids???

[Dewayne mater]

Those look similar to the aphids I get. Mine have a army green to dark brown body, but those same wings. The lady bugs I put out have kept their numbers in check. Still have them, but, no population explosion like you can get, and I'm thrilled that nature could do it. One less spray on my plants. I'm not all organic, but, try to do as little from the poisons department as possible.

Dewayne mater

[Heritage]

Carolyn,

Aphids don't mean your plants are infected with CMV but it makes it more of a possibility. I'm glad you have some tests on their way.

Although the Agdia directions for using the CMV test strips are very good, here's a couple of points I found confusing until I used them:

(the photos show two different pouches but not sure you can make out the details with the white background)

1. After placing the leaf sample in the bag of solution (between the meshes) use something like a spoon (or the like - I use the rounded end of a Sharpie Pen) to rub the mesh and extract the green sap from the leaf. The directions don't mention that you should rub slowly so you don't create a lot of bubbles in the process. A green solution without bubbles will make the point in #2, below, easier:

2. The directions say to insert the test strip into the mesh-less channel on the right side of the pouch (see photo), but they make it sound simple to keep the solution at/below the bottom line (marked on the test strip). I found the solution level in the right side could vary greatly depending on how you hold the pouch so it wasn't quite as straightforward as the directions made it sound. The idea is to just wick the solution from the bottom of the test strip onto the main area of the test strip and not emerge it in the solution. To accomplish this, I found it easiest to hold the pouch in my left hand at eye level, looking at it as in the photo. I then inserted the test strip into the right side of the pouch (part without the mesh) and slowly pushed it down until it just barely contacted the solution and began wicking. I lowered it more, as needed, to keep the end always in the solution and wicking. After about 2 minutes the solution will have wicked up the test strip. I then set it down as the directions indicate and let it set for the 30 minute test period. (Making sure the solution is not over the bottom line)

3. The directions say to wait for 30 minutes for results. Make sure to check before 30 minutes because longer can invalidate the test results. (I have never experienced this, but it is what tech support at Agdia told me when I called them)
Actually, I have always seen the positive results in the first few minutes, almost immediately after the solution wicks up the test strip.

Good luck with your diagnosis. If you have any questions PM me or call Agdia's toll free number - they are very helpful.

Steve

[CarolynPhillips]

CMV is a big fat NEGATIVE

Thanks for the tips on testing.
I had to hold the bag and test strip to keep the sample fluid at the right level.
Negative at 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes,25 minutes and 30 minutes.

Thanks a bunch.

I did travel 2 miles down the road in both directions and never did see any signs of herbicide usage but, I do have a neighbor across the road who uses Eraser on his cattle fence lines across the road 1/8 mile and on his hay field fence line behind me 700 ft to my property line to keep the weeds down.

[Heritage]

Carolyn,

That's great, love to see that single (control) line show up!

I'm not aware of any other virus or insect damage that would create those symptoms. (Maybe someone from Alabama will chime in with something) So, I'm going to assume you're dealing with herbicide damage. A few thoughts and possibilities:

1. I doubt it's the 'Eraser' herbicide your neighbor used that's responsible - 700 feet is a long way for spray drift (although possible) and glyphosate (Eraser) doesn't volatilize, so your neighbor would have had to use a very fine mist nozzle to get the glyphosate to evaporate into the air. Also the atmospheric conditions would have to be just right. And, the damage doesn't look quite like glyphosate damage - there's not enough yellowing at the base of the leaflets that I can see.

2. I can only think of a few other possible sources of herbicide contamination:

- Someone used your pesticide sprayer to spray a herbicide, and then you used it to spray pesticides on your plants.

- Your potting soil is contaminated - if you mixed your own potting soil and added horse or cow manure (or any commercial compost with yard waste, free compost from the city with yard waste, etc) you could have gotten a batch contaminated with a herbicide. It is also possible that a pre-bagged commercial potting mix was contaminated. Under these scenarios the plants would grow great until the soil in the black pots heated up to the point where the herbicide volatilized and caused the damage.

I hope you can figure out the source and your plants grow out of the damage.

Steve

[CarolynPhillips]

I used a commercial compost manure mixed with peat moss and promix and then i put rabbit manure on the top soil.
But that doesn't explain why the elderberry is doing the same thing and it has never had any of this commercial compost.
My sprayer has never had herbicide in it and I am the only one who uses it.

Guess I will never know.

happy gardening....have a great summer

[Iva]

Steve, thanks for all the information you have given here, I find it very educational, I'm glad I read through this thread as I know much more about viruses and herbicide damage now than I ever did before. Thanks a bunch!