Does anyone know what this is?

pinklady5 · August 7, 2016

I have a plant and all of the fruit look like this. Uneven ripening, blotchy and some concentric circles that look like knots in wood grain. Never seen this before. This was supposed to be Prudens Purple but it's regular leaf.

gorbelly · August 7, 2016

That looks a lot like TSWV, but TSWV would have very noticeable foliage symptoms, too.

If your foliage is healthy, then maybe it's an unusual presentation of blotchy ripening?

pinklady5 · August 7, 2016

Thanks, I forgot to add that the foliage looks fine. Plants next to it have not yet ripen so I can't tell if it's spread but the garden is healthy all around.

gorbelly · August 7, 2016

Have you sliced it open? If so, what does it look like inside?

pinklady5 · August 7, 2016

I sliced one open the other day and it looks fine inside. It was just an even color pale pink inside. no blotches, no rotting. Just an even color all-around

Fred Hempel · August 7, 2016

Looks to me like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus

I have two plants I have to pull at the end of the day with TSWV

pinklady5 · August 7, 2016

I think I'm going to pull the plant as well.

heirloomtomaguy · August 7, 2016

Its Tomato Spoted Wilt Virus i had it 2 years ago and it wiped out all 150 plants i had that year. Get rid of that plant and start looking for Thrips. If i were you i would dust the whole garden in Diatomaceous Earth.

Fred Hempel · August 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinklady5

I think I'm going to pull the plant as well.

Probably a good idea. I have plants that are highly affected next to plants that show no effects at all.

However, if I don't remove the plants, and we have a thrip outbreak it can spread rapidly. The thrips spread it from plant to plant.

It is also important to know that there are some weed species that are carriers as well, so it is good to keep them out of your garden/fields

Fred Hempel · August 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

Its Tomato Spoted Wilt Virus i had it 2 years ago and it wiped out all 150 plants i had that year. Get rid of that plant and start looking for Thrips. If i were you i would dust the whole garden in Diatomaceous Earth.

Good advice! I am going to put yellow sticky traps near the plants I remove.

gorbelly · August 7, 2016

Do the green fruits show faint rings?

pinklady5 · August 7, 2016

The sun is setting here and the Mosquitos are in full force right now. First thing tomorrow I'm pulling it out and I will check the green fruit. Totally bummed since last minute I stuck in the ground to see what the outcome would be since it wasn't potato leaf as expected.

Fred Hempel · August 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by gorbelly

Do the green fruits show faint rings?

They often do -- also brown spots or streaks.

gorbelly · August 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

They often do -- also brown spots or streaks.

Thx, Fred. I was asking pinklady, as I thought it was unusual to see no symptoms at all except suddenly on ripe fruit. But you have so much experience as a grower--do you see TSWV showing symptoms only on ripe fruit and not on any foliage at all?

pinklady5 · August 8, 2016

So I ended up pulling 2 plants this morning. The second one was on the other end of the garden with the same symptoms on the ripe fruit. Same concentric circles, terribly blotchy but I couldn't find any thrips, however the closer I looked I did see damage to the foliage and found some little orange/yellow eggs which were turning black. I couldn't find any circles on the green fruit but most of them were too small and not yet a mature green. Very unusual season for me. Catfacing, zippering, plants that usually ripen first are still green, Sungold is 3 times the usual size and some plants acted like determinates, all ripening at once.

August 7, 2016	#8
heirloomtomaguy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: glendora ca Posts: 2,560	Its Tomato Spoted Wilt Virus i had it 2 years ago and it wiped out all 150 plants i had that year. Get rid of that plant and start looking for Thrips. If i were you i would dust the whole garden in Diatomaceous Earth. __________________ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

August 7, 2016	#2
gorbelly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Posts: 1,069	That looks a lot like TSWV, but TSWV would have very noticeable foliage symptoms, too. If your foliage is healthy, then maybe it's an unusual presentation of blotchy ripening?

August 7, 2016	#3
pinklady5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 234	Thanks, I forgot to add that the foliage looks fine. Plants next to it have not yet ripen so I can't tell if it's spread but the garden is healthy all around.

August 7, 2016	#6
Fred Hempel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sunol, CA Posts: 2,723	Looks to me like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus I have two plants I have to pull at the end of the day with TSWV

August 8, 2016	#15
pinklady5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 234	So I ended up pulling 2 plants this morning. The second one was on the other end of the garden with the same symptoms on the ripe fruit. Same concentric circles, terribly blotchy but I couldn't find any thrips, however the closer I looked I did see damage to the foliage and found some little orange/yellow eggs which were turning black. I couldn't find any circles on the green fruit but most of them were too small and not yet a mature green. Very unusual season for me. Catfacing, zippering, plants that usually ripen first are still green, Sungold is 3 times the usual size and some plants acted like determinates, all ripening at once.