Need help IDing this disease

[Vespertino]

Hey peeps, I'm in need of help. I can't figure out what's wrong with my tomato plants, and it's spreading fast. I posted these on the TSWV thread but I'm not sure if that's the problem since I found no thrips and it's effecting non-flowering plants. I found it on ANOTHER plant so I'm starting to flip out a bit, as that means it's effecting over half my tomatoes. I'm afraid to pull them until I know what the problem is in case it can be treated.







This seems to be appearing on random branches, there doesn't seem to be a pattern of it appearing on old or new growth.

My best guesses are:
Bacterial Canker
Potato Virus Y
TSWV

Anyone have any idea which one (or other) that it might be? I need to act fast, this literally popped up within the past 2 days and it's already on half my plants.

Thanks in advance!

[Dewayne mater]

Good idea to make this a separate post. I still wish I could help you, but, I'm not sure what this is.

I did go out this evening and discovered that 4 of 5 flowers I looked at had thrips. I dropped everything, grabbed the spinosad and went to work. I don't see signs of TSVS yet, but, I'm definitely concerned.

These blasted winds from the south have been blowing for 3 months almost non stop at 20-30 mph. Never seen winds like this. I'm convinced these high winds blow the tiny thrips up from the gulf coast region. I only tell you this because we are close and if I have thrips, having used Spinosad, neem twice, and insecticidal soap twice, then there is a high probability you have them too. If you have them, then this may well be TSVW.

Dewayne Mater

[Dewayne mater]

Check out this excellent article re TSwV from Cornell. http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...pottedWilt.htm

Edit to add info learned from the linked article above - After a thorough application of Spinosad last night, this mornings inspection of about 20 different flowers did not reveal any thrips. So far, this product is effective in controlling thrips. However, having read this article, I see I waited too long between applications (Cornell recommends a treatment every 5 days because of their rapid reproduction cycle!) so they did come back between treatments, and were apparently not bothered by neem or soaps. I can't know the extent of the damage done yet. Certainly, many flowers will be lost that won't produce fruit, but, hopefully, they won't have infected my plants with TSWV. I'm going to be much more vigilant about this particularly pernicious pest from now on because at a minimum, they cost you a lot of fruit set and at worst, kill your plants. New enemy #1. Tiny, evil, boogers.

Dewayne Mater

[Vespertino]

Thanks Dewayne! I've read it and I'm coming to the conclusion that it's not TSWV because I can't find thrips anywhere on the plants- they're literally big free. Occasionally I see chewing
Marks from setting larger like a beetle, but there nothing living on the plants. I'm still at a loss, very near to pulling the plants out of frustration.

[zipcode]

Is it warm there at night? That's how my plants look after a few almost freezing nights. So in any case, it's probably an environmental problem, not a disease.

[kurt]

Can you view a hand held microscope onto the leaves.From the image I see some white type particles.Some mites are really small.Bacterial speck/spot has the same symtoms but I see no yellow halo around the legions.

[Vespertino]

hi Zipcode! It's been warm at night, in the 50-60 range, we had a frost about a month ago but it's been a while since the nights got cold.

Kurt- I don't have a very good magnifying glass, but I looked over the white particles and the fuzz as close as I could when you suggested it. They didn't look like mites but fine pieces of woody dust from the mulch (they looked blocky, no legs or wings and they didn't move around even when poked at) and and the white stuff looked like cotton strands that got stuck to the tomato stem hairs- we have a lot of cottonwood seeds blowing around right now I'm wondering if that's what it was.

I pulled my egg yolk and Benissoinante this morning before I went to work because it was on every single leaf, and I amputated stems on the other plants that were showing signs. It had covered half of my moravsky div, which had a leaf in an advanced stage of blackening that was starting to turn yellow wherever necrosis wasn't present.

I only found one bug but it looked like a typical teeny black gnat.

On a side note I have white flies on my squash, but no sign of them on the tomatoes. I'm going to try and take close up pics with my phone on one of the stems I cut off after dinner tonight. I almost wish I could find a thrip on my plants so I'd at least have a diagnosis

I wanted to note that the only thrip I've seen was on a waterfall rock on my pool, but I haven't seen a single one on my plants. Do thrips linger on plants and lay eggs or do they just jump from plant to plant in order to feed? Does anyone know if they only feed on flowers or if they also bite into flowerless plants?

[Vespertino]

This is the best I can do with my iphone camera, these are close ups on the stem I removed from the Moravski Div

[Dewayne mater]

Can you tell if that is a mold of some type? It looks like that is possible, but that's just a guess and I have no confidence in it, but mold will get on the stems and stalks like this has. If so, and since you are probably desperate, consider the bleach spray treatment that is the subject of a few threads.

Dewayne Mater

[Vespertino]

Found 'em!!!

TSWV. I think I can make it official now. I was *this* close to sending one of the plants I pulled yesterday to Tx A&M's plant lab.

Found a horrible thrip infestation on a rose bush next to the tomato plants. While none were living on my tomatoes, they were feasting on the rose blossoms and every single one is crawling with thrips. As Dewayne pointed out the wind is really strong this spring, and now that I've found the source of the thrips I'm sure he's 100% right and they're being blown around my yard downwind from the rosebush they've claimed as home.

I feel like a dingbat not checking the roses earlier or noticing a connection: their flowers looked a bit crinkly and I had cut some stalks of malformed leaves off the plant. On close inspection this morning: thrips, thousands and thousands of thrips feasting on the petals.

And now comes the damage control. I'm wondering what's best to spray the plants that don't have signs of TSWV to keep the thrips off. I'm considering having the rose plant removed, I'd hate to do that but it's a monster and I don't know if there anything that will get rid a thrip colony living on 4 rose plants entwined together at 10 feet tall. The rose is a kracken eating the corner of the house.

Currently researching my options...

I also realized the bug i saw on my waterfall rock a few weeks ago was far to big to be a thrip.

On the upside I found a garden orb spider egg packet underneath a TSWV infected leaf this morning. I moved it underneath the rose bush so when they hatch the babies can eat thrips.

[b54red]

I hate to tell you this but just because your rose bush has thrips it doesn't mean the tomatoes do. I have had bad infestations of thrips some years and hardly any TSWV and some years I hardly see any thrips but have a terribly high incidence of TSWV. It can sometimes take quite a while after an infected thrip bites the plant to when it shows TSWV symptoms if ever.

Are the new growth tips starting to look infected? Has the plant stopped putting on new healthy growth? Does the plant just look like it has almost quit growing? Eventually after the first symptoms appear the growth tips will be affected by the disease and at that point you can be sure of TSWV. If your plants are showing the above symptoms besides the leaf discolorations then you probably have TSWV. If you do and the plants are not already loaded with tomatoes then it would be best to go ahead and pull them and replace them. I only allow a TSWV plant to remain if it is large and healthy with lots of at least half grown fruit on it. I have lost close to a hundred plants to TSWV in the past and only had two plants survive and produce decently once the symptoms appeared so the odds are not good in allowing a plant to remain in the garden.

Bill

[Vespertino]

It's effecting new growth on some of the plants that have it but not all.. The first tomato plant that contracted it was right next to the rose bush (3 feet away) and within a couple days the virus (or whatever it may be) had jumped to half the tomato plants that share the same planting bed. Right now most do not have blossoming flowers yet. I pulled 3 plants- the first which looked the worse and two others that had the necrosis on every leaf including the new growth. I am particularly concerned because half of my tomatoes are in grow bags about 30 feet away from the row of infected plants and I found a couple of leaves (lower leaves) with the symptoms on one of those was well. I had hoped they were far enough away to be safe but apparently not

[Pamscott]

I am new to gardening in Texas. I think I saw a thrip. No sign of TSWV. How do you treat the plants and how frequently. I'll google thrip and see what their life cycle is. Thanks

[rnewste]

Carolyn has posted this link before, but here it is again for reference re tomato spotted wilt:

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...SptWlt_Tom.htm

Raybo

[Vespertino]

I wanted to thank everyone again for chipping in and helping me with trying to ID the disease. While I'm leaning towards TSWV since it fits and I found an infestation of thrips on a neighboring rose plant, I'm keeping a very close eye for other symptoms that may pop up and offer clues in case it's something else.

With the 3 of the worst plants pulled, and infected foliage from the others removed, I haven't seen another breakout yet but it's only been a day or two. I replaced the Benissoinante with an identical extra and the egg yolk with a rose quartz multiflora. The KBX I'm not replacing with anything until I get the thrip infestation of the neighboring rose bush under control, since it's literally right next to it I think it's a really BAD idea to plant anything in that spot.

I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of the thrip infestation on the rose bush without killing bees since they love my roses, too. Spinosad seems to be out of the question since it's toxic to bees, I'm not sure what organic options might work for an thrip infestation as bad as the roses have it. I have homework to do!