Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (w/ Pix)

[b54red]

I have already lost over 10% of my planted tomatoes to TSWV and in all likelihood will lose more. Surprisingly I have not seen another plant in my first bed show any signs of sickness other than the usual EB that comes with the spring rains which have picked up. It looks like I have a ripening tomato from my Granny Cantrell in that first bed and I have a few others over six feet tall already with various levels of fruit. The plant with the most fruit so far is a Spudakee followed by Granny Cantrell. My biggest plant is a Red Barn but it is over 7 feet tall already and will need to be leaned and lowered very soon. For the last two days I haven't had to remove any tomato or pepper plants due to TSWV but I doubt it is through with me this early so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My Sweet Success cucumbers are doing great already. I am growing my cucumbers on strings and keeping the suckers pruned off and production is very good so far. It means daily clipping and pruning as they grow so fast. I already need to start leaning and lowering them. So far I am really liking this method of controlling the vines and it is so much neater and easier to see the fruits and pests. I also like not having to put up a tall fence for them.

My beans are a disappointment so far as they have only reached a height of about 10 inches instead of the usual 18 inches by this time. The flea beetles did a job on the leaves of my beans and with these stunted plants I am not expecting a bumper crop. I set out my two Butta yellow zucchini plants and they look good so far. I need to start dusting the bases of the plants to prevent SVB since I don't have any extra plants to take up the slack if I lose one and if I lose two I will have no squash.

We got a fairly heavy rain night before last and some severe winds which caused some lose of limbs and peppers among my bells which are fruiting nicely with so far only one lost to TSWV. I have yet to get my hot peppers or another batch of tomatoes in the ground but hope to do that this week. I have the bed prepared but don't have the support rack built yet.

The last couple of days some of my blue berry bushes have been giving me some ripe berries but I noticed a lot of pairs of breeding leaf footed bugs on the plants with ripe berries. I'm sure they will be moving to my tomatoes and bell peppers soon so I am on the lookout for them constantly. I have planted some sweet potato slips under my bell peppers and if I can keep my dogs and the squirrels from digging them up they should start filling in under the bells.

My okra plants are far too small for transplanting and I don't have the bed ready for them yet as I still have to remove the fencing from my English peas before I can use that bed.

So far a pretty good start in the garden this year with the usual problems that are always present down here. It has been unusually cool here the last two days which has been very nice.

The flower bed in the front yard has been replanted and is looking great with abundant flowers and blooms but so far not a single hummingbird has been seen here yet. I have seen some nesting pairs of bluebirds using some of the new houses I set up so that is a good sign. As usual the squirrels and chipmunks are excavating everywhere and making a mess of things. So far no signs of them chewing up my crops this season so I am leaving them alone for now so despite my cat allergy I may have to find a mean cat if my dogs will allow it to thin them out. My dogs are all over 12 years old and not very good at controlling them anymore.

Bill