Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (w/ Pix)

[bower]

Originally Posted by ilex

Looks like this one doesn't remain in the seed. Just make sure to wash them properly and you can always do a bleach wash (diluted). If I remember properly, Tom Wagner uses a detergent wash before the bleach to make it more effective.

From Cornell, dated 1989: "Although an early study reported seed transmission of TSWV at a high rate in Cineraria and tomato, a later study found onIy 1 percent infection. The virus is present only in the seed coat and not in the embryo. Seed transmission is thus not considered important for disease spread. "

The bleach may work, but I don't think I would save seed from a TSWV infected plant all the same, unless I intended to grow it out myself and check for virus in the next generation before sharing with others. As it stands, I'm pretty sure we have thrips here but not TSWV. I sure don't want to bring it in!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Keger

All I know is this knocked out about 30% of my crop. I will only grow disease resistant plants going forward.

If you do that then you are dooming yourself to some fairly tasteless tomatoes that are all very similar. TSWV doesn't hit every year and even the resistant plants will get it sometimes. They just have the ability to withstand it longer. If you plan on going ahead with that then from the commercial growers around here the best resistant tomato is one called Amelia. TSWV hits this area nearly every year to one degree or another. This past season was the lightest hit I have taken in about 8 or 9 years because I only lost a couple of plants to it; but this was one of the worst years in a very long time for fusarium wilt.

Due to the bad fusarium problem I deal with every year I spent nearly twenty years growing those highly resistant varieties and after eating the first few their sameness was a real downer after a while. I decided to just go with growing tomatoes that I really liked that had some ability to produce. I have to replace a lot of plants but I do enjoy the tomatoes so much more. I also always plant a few Big Beefs for insurance even though they are not TSWV resistant they are to me the best of the fusarium resistant hybrids.

[Keger]

I keep one plot to mess around with, a few plants to see what happens. As I grow for market, I also have to hedge my bets and protect myself, probably more than I would like to. But I gotta have product, I cant take big hits, cant catch up in this climate. A couple I am trying next year are Top Gun and BHN 444, along with Celebrity for a main crop. I'll play with some other stuff, maybe try a little of the Amelia you mentioned, I have seen it. Do you have any experience with Taladega by chance?

[b54red]

I mentioned my past growing of so many hybrids and my growing dissatisfaction with most of them because of the flavor and sameness. The only one of the new TSWV varieties that I have found somewhat tasty is Bella Rosa. I have never tried Taladega. I have had good luck with Celebrity many times in the past but I have replaced it as an insurance tomato with Big Beef. I have found that BB is more productive for me and has thinner skin with better flavor. Despite the disease tolerance of many of the hybrids I usually have a couple of heirlooms that out produce and live longer every season.

Despite the fusarium being worse this year than any year in at least 10 years Neves Azorean Red outlived all of my hybrids and outproduced them. Last year Indian Strip, Spudakee, and Stump of the World beat the hybrids. The problem is every year things are different and those variables affect each variety in different ways each season. I had very good luck with Celebrity for 3 years in a row and each year planted more of them until I had over 40 of my 50 plants one year. Guess what? That year out of 40 plants I got less than a dozen tomatoes. That same year I had 3 Big Beefs for the first time and those 3 plants produced an average of nearly 100 tomatoes each. I have had the same kind of results with most of the heirlooms that have done well for me. There just seems to be something about going all in on one or two varieties that guarantees me a terrible year. I now try not to put out more than 4 or 5 of any one variety no matter how well they did the year before. I do plant several of some varieties that have been more consistent like Indian Stripe, Black Krim, Spudakee, Cherokee Purple, JD's Special C Tex, Druzba, Cowlick's Brandywine, Stump of the World, Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, and Dr. Wyches Yellow. I usually try to put out at least 3 different disease resistant hybrids like Big Beef, Bella Rosa and Jetsetter.

[Keger]

Well, there ya go. Try a bunch and see what works.

[ilex]

Went from 2 days a week neem spray to 1 ...

[b54red]

I have my first case of TSWV for the year and it looks like maybe a second one. The first was a graft with Hege German Pink on a Tasti-Lee rootstock. This was my first tomato to set this year. I cut off the whole side of the plant that showed the symptoms. This rarely helps but it does look better for now. I have been seeing more and more thrips the past few weeks when I was out tying up and pruning so I knew it was only a matter of time before I saw it. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be a really bad year.

Bill

[Lee]

Bill,

I can't recall, have you ever tried adding a few yellow marigolds around
the tomato plants?
The idea is that the thrips are more attracted to the marigolds than the tomato blossoms.

Could just be a coincidence, but I've tried that the past couple of seasons and it has reduced my TSWV incidence. I have to check my records at home, but I don't think I lost a single one last year....

Lee

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Lee

Bill,

I can't recall, have you ever tried adding a few yellow marigolds around
the tomato plants?
The idea is that the thrips are more attracted to the marigolds than the tomato blossoms.

Could just be a coincidence, but I've tried that the past couple of seasons and it has reduced my TSWV incidence. I have to check my records at home, but I don't think I lost a single one last year....

Lee

I haven't set out my marigolds yet this year; but will soon. Last year was one of the lightest TSWV years I have had in a long time. I only lost two plants out of over 80. Three or four years ago it was wholesale slaughter of my plants by TSWV and I had marigolds everywhere that year. I think some years you just get more infectious thrips than other years.

Bill

[Keger]

I think if you have a run of TSWV you might want to burn the patch, and reload. I know it sucks, but it is still early and there is time. As it is a virus, who knows why and how and why how long it hangs.

Best of luck, let me know.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Keger

I think if you have a run of TSWV you might want to burn the patch, and reload. I know it sucks, but it is still early and there is time. As it is a virus, who knows why and how and why how long it hangs.

Best of luck, let me know.

Although I've heard that you need to immediately remove any infected plants I have never had a problem with TSWV spreading from one plant to another despite having them peppered throughout my garden some seasons. They seem to all come down with it at one time and then maybe no more infections for months. I have kept TSWV plants alive in the garden for months in a few instances and never had another case. After dealing with it for years I no longer even worry about it spreading. I worry instead about another swarm of infected thrips blowing in on the wind and infecting more plants. Invariably when I see a large amount of thrips in the garden this time of the year I will have some cases of TSWV appear from two to three weeks after the thrips show up.

Bill

[Stvrob]

Is this TSWV? I haven't noticed a thrips infestation. Looks like a fine purplish powder or stain, but it doesnt rub off the leaf. This is on most of my grafted Cherokee purple's and I've really noticed it after we had 10 inches of rain last weekend, though it might have been there sooner. Mostly on the upper side, but a bit visible on the underside too. They are mostly on the lower leaves, and the plants look fairly healthy, plus they are loaded down with very large fruit. The only pests I've noticed have been fairly minimal invasion of army worms.

After the big rain I do have some early blight on the lower leaves of many of my plants, (last picture-is this diagnosis correct?), but really not so much on the Cherokee purples.

I would hate to lose my Cherokee purples.

[b54red]

Well I went ahead and pulled up my Hege German Pink grafted tomato because what I was fairly sure was TSWV was definitely TSWV and it looks like my KBX graft is the other one. Since I posted that I thought I had two plants with TSWV we have had a lot of leaf spot from all the rain and damp weather so I had to wait for all that to clear up after a good bleach spray. The two plants that I thought had TSWV in my first bed were the only two not showing good growth and now the growth tips are showing the tell tale signs. I'm still hoping against hope that the KBX is something more benign but I'm only fooling myself. I'm going to have to remove it in the next couple of days. So far I don't see any others that are showing definite signs of TSWV; but one graft with a Moreton scion has me worried. It is the only plant not showing vigorous growth in my second bed and that can sometimes be an early symptom even before the leaf flecking shows.

So far not so bad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. When tying up the plants today I didn't see any thrips or for that matter any pests so maybe the first bout with TSWV wasn't too bad; but I did have to prune a lot of foliage from the damage done during our very damp weather of the past few weeks.

Bill

[pilgrimfive]

Lee, this year we replaced all the mix in our seven Earth Boxes and I made a few more containers from Firehouse's pickle buckets. This morning I noticed much spotting (see attch) and dying leaves, mostly around the base of the plants. It looks like TSWV, but would want confirmation before pulling the plants...and I have not noticed any Thrips.

The plants were doing well and the onset of this has been very quick. Of the five boxes in the back yard, all of them demonstrate this, some to a greater degree than others. The plants geographically separated on the side house do not as of yet show any signs.

I would appreciate any advise as this year we have invested much time and resources to redoing our garden...and now I'm...heart broken that this will devastate our crop!

Is there yet hope?

Thanks in advance,

Devastated in Texas,

Glen

[Lee]

I don't believe this is TSWV. TSWV usually is seen on the newer
growth at the top of the plant. Maybe early blight or septoria leaf spot... hard to say.
Maybe some others can weigh in on this. (You might also get more diagnosis help in a new thread as this doesn't appear to be TSWV.)

Lee