Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (w/ Pix)

[b54red]

I pulled about 10 more today and still have a few more that are showing signs that will get worse over the next week or two. I have never had any soil issues with TSWV. In other words it doesn't spread in the soil as far as I can tell because I have planted hundreds of new plants right behind plants pulled for TSWV and have not had a problem. If it spread through the soil like fusarium a new young plant wouldn't last a week before getting TSWV. Some of the plants I pulled today have some resistance but not like some of the hybrids that have that tolerance bred into them.

A fair number of infected plants took a long time to get really sick after showing the first symptoms which are slow growth, curly smaller leaves in the new growth which is off color and rust in the leaves on most of the suspect plants. It seems fruit setting will bring out the worse symptoms of a plant that has already been infected but hasn't gotten really sick yet. Younger plants usually get much sicker much faster than a large robust plant infected at the same time. If the larger plant has decent sized fruit on it they will usually make while most of the smaller ones become stunted and a bit weird looking.

I really don't want to grow any of the hybrids that are resistant to TSWV again. I grew a lot of them some years back and they just don't have the taste I am looking for besides we have a lot of commercial tomato growers around growing the hybrids that do well here and plenty of stands to get them from.

It seems I am finally having to pay the piper for all the success I have had for the past decade with grafted plants. Especially since I found that RST-04-106-T rootstock that is triple fusarium tolerant as well as tolerant of Bacterial wilt. Since using it I have not had any mass die offs other that the usual loses from TSWV and a few bad spider mite problems late in the summer. I just got used to losing a reasonable percentage of plants to TSWV and didn't expect this slaughter. Other than the replacement plants that I put in I don't think many of the original plants I set out in that bed of 45 will be long term survivors. I think I had two waves of thrips hit about a week apart and now it is just a waiting game to see which ones escaped getting stung. I do have a few that are definitely not infected that are standing two feet taller and fruiting with beautiful foliage and robust growth habits but not enough plants for that 44ft long bed.

Bill

[b54red]

Well I was right about not having many survivors of that large bed of grafted plants. Of the original 45 plants I set out I have six survivors that are doing great and most of the replacements that I was able to set out have not been hit by TSWV; but several have and I pulled them. The new bed I planted has only had 3 plants out of 18 get TSWV so hopefully the worst of the TSWV plague is past. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm sure glad I grafted way more plants than I could possibly use in a normal year. It finally paid off but even so I will have a lot of gaps because I never envisioned loses to TSWV of over 50%.

I have also had to remove 8 bell pepper plants that got TSWV. Luckily my peppers were way behind in getting out into the garden this year and missed the worst of the infection. I was berating myself for weeks because I was so behind this year but it worked out okay. It could have been far worse if I had gotten everything out when I planned my loses would have been catastrophic.

Hopefully TSWV won't be as bad again next year.

Bill

[MrsJustice]

Hello this morning, I am glad you have 6 healthy survivors to enjoy. I too have planted this year some seeds from Dr. Carolyn Projects just to feel close to her. So far so good, they are just for me to eat and enjoy. I will report after going back and reading all of her posts before reporting the results.

I will pray for your crop. Keep up the Good Work taken care of Tomatoes Plant. We are getting a cool down lasting a week, that is always welcome for the ability to work all-day taken care of my Tomatoes, Amen!!.

[b54red]

This has been a humbling summer for me as a gardener who prides himself at finding ways to overcome adversity and still get a good crop of tomatoes most years. I have also lost a lot of bell peppers and even several hot pepper plants to TSWV this year. I have only had a few of my latest tomatoes set out to get TSWV and I am finally getting a few tomatoes. We won't be putting up any tomatoes this year as we are eating them as fast as they ripen. For the past month rain has been abundant and as a result most of the ripening fruit has split too badly to make it and some has just burst. Keeping my fingers crossed as the frequency of the rain has tapered off this past week and I am once again getting a few fruits that are edible. It is getting to that time of year when whiteflies start showing up and they bring in a problem with TYLCV. Last year for the first time in years they didn't infect my late tomatoes and I am hoping they won't this year. Despite the loses with TSWV I now have a fair number of plants of both bell peppers and tomatoes looking fairly good. Now if I can stop the spider mites and the Leaf Footed bugs I'll enjoy the rest of the season.

Bill

[Yak54]

Bill-you are a shining example to the rest of us for how to overcome adversity in our gardening endeavors ! Your experience & wisdom comes from many years fighting Mother Nature and most of the time you are the winner. You're a better man than me my friend. Blessings !

Dan

[slugworth]

“Endeavor to persevere.”

[MrsJustice]

Hang in there everyone, atlast we can eat them as they come in like "b5443e said, Amen!.

[atilgan]

I do not know exactly what disease we have in our community garden but every disease resistant variety I tried last year failed miserably. It looks like TSVW but probably something else. I posted pictures in this thread before. This year I tried Q-series panamourus tomato mix of Joseph Lofthouse. Out of tree that was planted two of them stayed completely healthy and still producing vigorously. Unfortunately tomatoes are like large cherries and the taste is average. Other tomatoes including big beef again died of disease. I will try the seeds I have left from this mix next year to get something that also tastes better.

[MrsJustice]

Hello Atilgan
At less you had a harvest of those Joseph Lofthouse Panamorous Tomatoes that would have been good in any sandwich.

There was something in this New Climate Changes that affected many of my Tomatoes; that I can not blame on TSWV too. Even the Cuostralee Big Heirloom Plants produced just 1 or 2 Large Tomatoes at one time that is growing close to my Home, just saved my Ian's Flooding. So I look forwards the those Small Amount surviving the First Frost for only 2 Tomatoes growing on a healthy looking Plants. Even my Watermelon Plants Produced only "one Very Super Large Watermelon" that took the help of 2 people to bring it from the Farm to an area just to my backyard, Amen!!
I will learn more about Self Fertilization for next Summer. In my Large Farm Plants without protection from the Sun Heat over 100, looking as if TSWV could happen in 24 Hours or overnight..
The Best thing I did was preparing 70% my Heirloom Plants by starting them in January 2022 as the were very Large and producing my Seed inventory for 2023 before the heat killed some plants.

[MrsJustice]

Hurricane Season is Over
and I have my Winter Crops of Greens and Broccoli Still Growing.

Thanks to God Almighty for have the Hurricanes winds to change direction, that made even the Weather Channel Noicing the Miracles here in Hampton Virginia at the Mouth of Fort Monroe where my Historical Farms are Located from the Contraband Slaves that included my Great Grandfather.


It took so long to find the Pure Broccoli Seeds that are Historical and Pure Heirlooms. I am so happy that the Hurricanes and winds did not destroy my Crops this year, Amen!!

[b54red]

Well a new tomato season is underway after a very cold winter for south Alabama. Most of my citrus trees survived with a lot of wrapping and some heat lamps but they did need a lot of cutting back.

My grafting has gone far better than usual with near 90% success with most of the batches I have done and as a result I have far more plants than my garden could possibly hold. I have two beds going now with 14 plants in one and 32 in another. They are all attached to the stings now and so I am busy keeping the suckers removed and clipping them to the lines. Everything was looking great until last week when I saw my first 2023 plant with TSWV. It was so easy to spot I saw it from over 20 feet away. Even though I had gone over that bed two days before and seen no apparent problems on any of the plants and no bad bugs either. I'm constantly looking out for thrips in the blooms or anywhere on the plants. If I see any every tomato and pepper plant in my garden will receive a dose of Permethrin and soapy water in hopes of keeping them at bay.

I have already removed that sick plant from the garden and am now nervously awaiting the next shoe to drop. It is time to prune my second bed again as the plants are nearly two feet tall and sprouting suckers like weeds, so that is on the schedule for this week. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for a less exciting time with TSWV this year than I had last year.

I have got to get on the ball and get another bed ready for more tomatoes and my hot pepper plants which are ready to go out into the garden. I also need to graft some more plants just in case I may need them later like I did last season.

Tomato spotted wilt virus has become an annual problem around here the last 10 years or so. I'm sure all the commercial tomato growers around here have all gone to the varieties that are resistant to TSWV and TYLCV which is also getting worse. You just can't afford to relax and enjoy watching tomatoes grow down here because we have too many things that can cause catastrophic losses in a matter of a few weeks.

Bill

[Yak54]

DARN !!!!


Dan

[b54red]

I have now removed my first victim of TSWV from my second bed of tomatoes set out on 4/11/23. I have two others on a close watch that are showing some of the earliest signs of TSWV and expect to be removing a few more in the next couple of days. Two days ago I sprayed all my tomatoes and bell peppers with a Permethrin and copper spray to hopefully ward off some of the few pests I have seen and keeping my fingers crossed.

I am getting good fruit set so far especially from my first tomatoes I set out back in the third week of March and my second bed is really starting to take off. My bell peppers have now gotten large enough for me to stop removing blooms and allow some peppers to start making and I now have a good number of fruits on some of my plants.

My first okra started in cups are now starting to pop up as the temperature is getting into the 90s nearly every day now. I have pulled up my first large row of Willet Wonder peas after picking them clean. They have been very productive so far and I have two short rows of them still left to make a few more. I have a bed of cucumbers planted with approximately 25 pickling and 5 Sweet Success varieties. I am going to try growing them on strings with the lean and lower method keeping the suckers removed and see how that works for me this spring.

I just ordered three gallons of TTF and one gallon of Vegetable formula from Urban Farms and am looking forward to upping my fruit set by adding it to my feeding regimen as soon as it arrives.

My son in Mobile is a bit ahead of me due to the slightly warmer and wetter spring down there and he has been plagued with flea beetles which are just starting to show up here first in my green beans. Since they love cucumbers I expect I will be seeing them soon on my plants now that they are in the ground. My blueberry plants are looking good and I got another bag of Holly-Tone and hopefully will be able to side dress them with it this week and water it in well.

We are now starting to get a bit too dry here now and could use a good rain but none seems imminent on the near-term forecast.

Bill

[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