Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (w/ Pix) - Page 10

b54red · May 20, 2011

Well we can add a Marianna's Peace to the tally and I saw one or two more that may be infected when I was tying plants up this afternoon; but that is far less than I was expecting. Last year I had already lost about 8 or more by now with quite a few more sick and I started my plants earlier this year. Maybe the TSWV will be a little less destructive this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

kunosoura · May 30, 2011

After looking here, I've got a Kellogg's Breakfast that I'm pretty sure has TSWV. I'll snap a photo and post it this afternoon. As I have a couple of backups laying around, I'll probably pull and replace it without waiting for feedback from you all..

Thanks for posting up the descriptions/photos of TSWV which aided in my likely correct identification.

kunosoura · May 30, 2011

So here is what I've got. I'm pretty sure it's TSWV. What do you all think? I see thrips galore and the whole nine. It could be spreading to another two plants. I'm pulling them out today.

photo.JPG

Edit: man what a lousy picture lol. I took it on my phone. My gf lost her camera. I may re-take this baby. But i doubt the quality will get any better.

But yeah basically my new growth is wilty, with new leaves covered in small brown spots. And my plants are freakin covered in thrips.

b54red · June 2, 2011

The picture is not any real help. If your new growth starts wilting and shriveling up at the top of one stem and then quickly moves to another then it may very well be TSWV. I've lost several this year but it hasn't been near as bad as last year when I was pulling up several plants a week.

kunosoura · June 2, 2011

Yes the picture was quite lousy. I apologize.

Based on what I've seen/read I'm quite sure it was TSWV. I ended up pulling five so far that had symptoms. I had replacements for 3 of them, so not the end of the world (I now have 19 plants, not counting my dwarfs).

I hit the others with Sevin dust to try and calm these thrips down and get things under control. We'll see what happens....

b54red · June 2, 2011

I don't think Sevin will help since it is a stomach poison and works mostly on chewing insects but a strong dose of permethrin and soapy water will get the ones it hits and so will Malathion. I sprayed a couple of times when the thrips were coming in really heavy and it did seem to clear a lot of them out but that was well over a month ago. I have only seen a few sporadically since then and have only had about one more infection every 10 days or so which with the number of plants I have set out is not a major problem.

travis · June 2, 2011

Spraying your tomato plants for thrips does little good since an infected thrip can land on the vine, pierce the leaf tissue, and deposit infected saliva on the spot before taking up enough poison to kill the insect. So even by the time the thrip dies of ingested or contacted pesticide, it may already have vectored the disease to the plant tissue. You would have to stand in the garden and spray them as they flew in swarm by swarm to do much good if all you're doing is concentrating on the ones attacking the tomato vines.

b54red · June 2, 2011

Well I did it a couple of days in a row when the thrips were coming in hot and heavy and I have had far less TSWV this year than last year when the thrips were not nearly as prevalent. A heavy enough dose of contact poison will kill the insect almost immediately. Most people who try to control them spray once a week or even less frequently and that is too hit and miss. I'm not even suggesting that you can stop the disease completely but if you time the spraying right I believe it does make a significant difference.

**Lee** · June 2, 2011

Well, after escaping last year without a loss, I've pulled my
first plant of the season. Tennessee Heirloom. Alas, it was
one I have been wanting to grow for about 4 years now!
I have another at my dad's, but I'm not confident that one
will produce anything for me.

I'm curious if I happen to have any plants that could be a vector for it. Something I'll have to research.

Lee

b54red · June 3, 2011

That sure looks like the beginning stage of the disease. I usually wait to be sure before pulling and if the plant is very large and healthy it will sometimes hang on for quite a while and finish producing the fruit that is already set. I know that best practices tell me to pull immediately but I have not seen any increase in the incidence of TSWV by letting a few plants remain as long as they are viable.

dott22 · June 3, 2011

Just got the results back from Clemson Extension Agency. It's official, I have my first TSWV casualty.

I hereby declare war on THRIPS! ( which I didn't even previously know I had )

--
Daniel

**Lee** · June 5, 2011

Looks like another case has reared its ugly head.

Oddly enough, this is very sporadic in its infection. I know it's
probably futile, but I'm just cutting the bad branches off back
to the main stem to see what happens.

This one is on a variety called First Mate.

Lee

kunosoura · June 6, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

I don't think Sevin will help since it is a stomach poison and works mostly on chewing insects but a strong dose of permethrin and soapy water will get the ones it hits and so will Malathion. I sprayed a couple of times when the thrips were coming in really heavy and it did seem to clear a lot of them out but that was well over a month ago. I have only seen a few sporadically since then and have only had about one more infection every 10 days or so which with the number of plants I have set out is not a major problem.

Thank you for the response. Now that you point this out, it does make good sense. Thanks also to travis for his points.

I'm going to give it a shot, even if it's just so that I can feel like i'm doing SOMETHING!

It is frustrating. I've lost a couple more plants since the last message.

dott22 · June 7, 2011

I've been reading some of those Reemay row covers keep thrips out.

Has anyone had any luck wrapping tomato cages with Reemay?

--
Daniel

Dark Rumor · June 26, 2011

I talked to a South Georgia county extension agent and he said that Thrips carry the virus and the virus is not spread from plant to plant only by the Thrips.

June 3, 2011	#146
dott22 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: South Carolina Posts: 19	Just got the results back from Clemson Extension Agency. It's official, I have my first TSWV casualty. I hereby declare war on THRIPS! ( which I didn't even previously know I had ) -- Daniel Last edited by dott22; June 3, 2011 at 07:41 PM. Reason: Comment already mentioned...

May 20, 2011	#136
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Well we can add a Marianna's Peace to the tally and I saw one or two more that may be infected when I was tying plants up this afternoon; but that is far less than I was expecting. Last year I had already lost about 8 or more by now with quite a few more sick and I started my plants earlier this year. Maybe the TSWV will be a little less destructive this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

May 30, 2011	#137
kunosoura Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jupiter, FL (10b) Posts: 97	After looking here, I've got a Kellogg's Breakfast that I'm pretty sure has TSWV. I'll snap a photo and post it this afternoon. As I have a couple of backups laying around, I'll probably pull and replace it without waiting for feedback from you all.. Thanks for posting up the descriptions/photos of TSWV which aided in my likely correct identification.

May 30, 2011	#138
kunosoura Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jupiter, FL (10b) Posts: 97	So here is what I've got. I'm pretty sure it's TSWV. What do you all think? I see thrips galore and the whole nine. It could be spreading to another two plants. I'm pulling them out today. photo.JPG Edit: man what a lousy picture lol. I took it on my phone. My gf lost her camera. I may re-take this baby. But i doubt the quality will get any better. But yeah basically my new growth is wilty, with new leaves covered in small brown spots. And my plants are freakin covered in thrips.

June 2, 2011	#139
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	The picture is not any real help. If your new growth starts wilting and shriveling up at the top of one stem and then quickly moves to another then it may very well be TSWV. I've lost several this year but it hasn't been near as bad as last year when I was pulling up several plants a week.

June 2, 2011	#140
kunosoura Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jupiter, FL (10b) Posts: 97	Yes the picture was quite lousy. I apologize. Based on what I've seen/read I'm quite sure it was TSWV. I ended up pulling five so far that had symptoms. I had replacements for 3 of them, so not the end of the world (I now have 19 plants, not counting my dwarfs). I hit the others with Sevin dust to try and calm these thrips down and get things under control. We'll see what happens....

June 2, 2011	#141
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I don't think Sevin will help since it is a stomach poison and works mostly on chewing insects but a strong dose of permethrin and soapy water will get the ones it hits and so will Malathion. I sprayed a couple of times when the thrips were coming in really heavy and it did seem to clear a lot of them out but that was well over a month ago. I have only seen a few sporadically since then and have only had about one more infection every 10 days or so which with the number of plants I have set out is not a major problem.

June 2, 2011	#142
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Spraying your tomato plants for thrips does little good since an infected thrip can land on the vine, pierce the leaf tissue, and deposit infected saliva on the spot before taking up enough poison to kill the insect. So even by the time the thrip dies of ingested or contacted pesticide, it may already have vectored the disease to the plant tissue. You would have to stand in the garden and spray them as they flew in swarm by swarm to do much good if all you're doing is concentrating on the ones attacking the tomato vines.

June 2, 2011	#143
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Well I did it a couple of days in a row when the thrips were coming in hot and heavy and I have had far less TSWV this year than last year when the thrips were not nearly as prevalent. A heavy enough dose of contact poison will kill the insect almost immediately. Most people who try to control them spray once a week or even less frequently and that is too hit and miss. I'm not even suggesting that you can stop the disease completely but if you time the spraying right I believe it does make a significant difference.

June 3, 2011	#145
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	That sure looks like the beginning stage of the disease. I usually wait to be sure before pulling and if the plant is very large and healthy it will sometimes hang on for quite a while and finish producing the fruit that is already set. I know that best practices tell me to pull immediately but I have not seen any increase in the incidence of TSWV by letting a few plants remain as long as they are viable.

June 7, 2011	#149
dott22 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: South Carolina Posts: 19	I've been reading some of those Reemay row covers keep thrips out. Has anyone had any luck wrapping tomato cages with Reemay? -- Daniel

June 26, 2011	#150
Dark Rumor Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 287	I talked to a South Georgia county extension agent and he said that Thrips carry the virus and the virus is not spread from plant to plant only by the Thrips.