Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (w/ Pix) - Page 6

**Lee** · August 16, 2007

Good point MsCowpea.

Thrips are as small as fleas and can get through pretty much anything that's not
"solid". This year was pretty bad for TSWV, including my favorite Cuostralee going
down to it.

I did confirm a couple of details about it this year.

1. Infected plants will not recover. The fruit will be effected and look terrible.
2. Early removal of bad foliage also doesn't help. My dad did this on one of
his plants, and the plant looked fine. However, the fruit later showed
significant effects of the TSWV....

Lee

shelleybean · August 16, 2007

I experienced the same thing as Lee's dad. I found one branch that looked fishy on a huge Lollipop plant I had. I normally first see TSWV at the top of the plant on the newest foliage but this branch was halfway down the plant. I cut it off and for several weeks thought I must have been wrong and the plant was fine. This plant was a monster and very dense and much later, I discovered that the whole inside of the plant was covered with TSWV spots. This was a cherry plant and I had planted all my cherries by the back door. I'd already lost two tomatoes in my main garden area but removed those quickly.

This year was not as bad for me as 2006 in terms of TSWV but I can't say if that's because it was colder from mid January on or because I was so much quicker to remove infected plants this time. Maybe both. In any case, I'm afraid this is something those of us in this area are going to have to start dealing with every season from now on, not just when we have a mild winter.

MsCowpea · August 16, 2007

Just saw the post by Patrina mentioning the use of yellow sticky cards and catching lots of thrips. I have read that thrips do prefer blue but if you have whitefly AND thrips go ahead and use the yellow.

But this has been my experience using sticky cards--you go down to the garden and marvel at the tons of bugs stuck on the card--

I took the card and looked under a high-powered microscope
and NO thrips. I am afraid I was just catching alot of harmless insects and beneficials as well.

But I have to say I have never seen alot of thrips on my plants even in the year I suffered heavily from TSWV.

So I was wondering do the rest of you really have a heavy infestation of thrips --so that you see them on all your plants. Have you looked at the cards (even with a 10x lens) to see what you are really catching?

bcday · August 16, 2007

I set out yellow sticky cards and early in the season caught quite a few whiteflies. Now I am seeing mostly aphids. My cards aren't sticky enough to hold larger insects like butterflies or bees.

What beneficial insects did you have in mind?

shelleybean · August 16, 2007

The instructions say to place the cards every seven feet, or something like that. Even on plants where the cards were hung, I still sometimes got TSWV. Both my blue and yellow cards caught a lot of bugs, including one ladybug and lots of houseflies. Most of what I see on there is tiny little black bugs with wings, but I don't know for sure what they are. I wish mosquitos would get stuck to those things! So combined with the weather and my quicker response to the disease, I can't say whether the cards really helped or not. In 2006 with an unusually mild winter, and no bug cards, I lost three quarters of my plants to the virus, as opposed to one quarter this year. That's all I know.

MsCowpea · August 16, 2007

BCDay, no I don't mean anything large like bees and butterflies. More like tiny wasps and flies. Less than 1/8 "--I could never really ID them as they are so mashed on the card but definately not thrips. More gnat-like. (Like Michele says tiny black bugs with wings.)

I just decided since I really wasn't catching any thrips I didn't want to use the cards and risk eliminating possible beneficials.

(Reminded me of those bug zappers where it was found they kill far more beneficial insects than mosquitoes. They can even increase the number of female mosquitoes which are the ones that actually bite. {Cornell} )

This has been my experience--as I said I never really see all that many thrips anyway when I did get TSWV. If a person really is catching alot of thrips it would be worth it but I think you need a hand lens to know for sure.

shelleybean · August 17, 2007

I feel like I should choose fewer varieties and grow more of each because of this virus. I'm bound to lose plants, so I'm no longer comfortable growing one of anything. I'm also considering growing back ups for my plants and keeping them isolated from the rest of the garden.

**Patrina_Pepperina** · December 15, 2007

I hate this disease! The plants have barely started to grow buds and this Cheeky F2 plant is already infected. I've only just put up sticky traps for this second plantout.

Click for larger image

PP

shelleybean · December 15, 2007

I hate it, too. I'm sorry to see it's a problem again.

shelleybean · December 18, 2007

Patrina, I have a few questions for you about the TSWV, if that's okay.

First, when you have cold weather, how cold does it typically get? If it's colder than normal, do you see any improvement when you set your plants out or is it pretty much the same amount of damage no matter what? And have you seen a significant increase in TSWV in the last three years?

And we'll continue to discuss what to do to get some relief from this awful virus as we go...I hope we can beat it.

For those who are not familiar, it's just awful. It can wipe out your entire tomato garden. And now fusarium has settled into my garden too so I don't know what 2008 will hold. 2006 and 2007 were terrible tomato years, but 2005 was the best I'd ever had. So I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, Patrina!

kktwahoo · December 27, 2007

We got hit hard by TSWV this past year, so does anyone know where the best place to buy this black/silver mulch is? I am going to spread the tomatoes out (we have 20+ acres) and use that mulch, if I can find it.

Thanks,

Kent & Kathy, in Nebraska

amideutch · December 29, 2007

Kent and Kathy, Here's a link for the silver mulch.
http://www.groworganic.com/item_MM40...5_Mil_30X.html

**Patrina_Pepperina** · December 30, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelleybean

Patrina, I have a few questions for you about the TSWV, if that's okay.

First, when you have cold weather, how cold does it typically get? If it's colder than normal, do you see any improvement when you set your plants out or is it pretty much the same amount of damage no matter what? And have you seen a significant increase in TSWV in the last three years?

Ohhh, sorry for taking so long to reply - been very very busy

Um, it doesn't really get very cold here, no frosts, and I've only been growing 4 years approx and haven't noticed much change over that period. I didn't lose any plants in the front garden beds to TSWV, but they were planted early. I've already culled 5 plants out back that were planted out on 22 Nov. The main difference at this time is lots of hot weather, the thrips here LOVE it!

Oh, btw, I tossed a whole bunch of old CDs under my plants to reflect light up into the bushes to deter bugs and grubs. Those CDs are very silvery bright as you know, but the thrips crawled all over them - they always had thrips on them in fact, so I don't think shiny mulch is likely to deter them

Patrina

shelleybean · December 30, 2007

Thanks for the info!

**Patrina_Pepperina** · January 9, 2008

Apparently there is a predatory mite that feeds on thrips and it is being developed as a biological control here in Australia.

Typhlodromips montdorensis - predates on Onion thrips, Plague thrips, Tomato, Western Flower and Melon thrips. Still under development. Does not consume adults or large thrip larvae.

I will look into it for next season I think!

PP

August 16, 2007	#76
Lee Tomatopalooza™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NC-Zone 7 Posts: 2,188	Good point MsCowpea. Thrips are as small as fleas and can get through pretty much anything that's not "solid". This year was pretty bad for TSWV, including my favorite Cuostralee going down to it. I did confirm a couple of details about it this year. 1. Infected plants will not recover. The fruit will be effected and look terrible. 2. Early removal of bad foliage also doesn't help. My dad did this on one of his plants, and the plant looked fine. However, the fruit later showed significant effects of the TSWV.... Lee __________________ Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put one in a fruit salad. Cuostralee - The best thing on sliced bread.

August 16, 2007	#77
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	I experienced the same thing as Lee's dad. I found one branch that looked fishy on a huge Lollipop plant I had. I normally first see TSWV at the top of the plant on the newest foliage but this branch was halfway down the plant. I cut it off and for several weeks thought I must have been wrong and the plant was fine. This plant was a monster and very dense and much later, I discovered that the whole inside of the plant was covered with TSWV spots. This was a cherry plant and I had planted all my cherries by the back door. I'd already lost two tomatoes in my main garden area but removed those quickly. This year was not as bad for me as 2006 in terms of TSWV but I can't say if that's because it was colder from mid January on or because I was so much quicker to remove infected plants this time. Maybe both. In any case, I'm afraid this is something those of us in this area are going to have to start dealing with every season from now on, not just when we have a mild winter. __________________ Michele

August 16, 2007	#78
MsCowpea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S. FLorida / Zone 10 Posts: 369	Just saw the post by Patrina mentioning the use of yellow sticky cards and catching lots of thrips. I have read that thrips do prefer blue but if you have whitefly AND thrips go ahead and use the yellow. But this has been my experience using sticky cards--you go down to the garden and marvel at the tons of bugs stuck on the card-- I took the card and looked under a high-powered microscope and NO thrips. I am afraid I was just catching alot of harmless insects and beneficials as well. But I have to say I have never seen alot of thrips on my plants even in the year I suffered heavily from TSWV. So I was wondering do the rest of you really have a heavy infestation of thrips --so that you see them on all your plants. Have you looked at the cards (even with a 10x lens) to see what you are really catching? __________________ "When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work." Carl Huffaker

August 16, 2007	#80
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	The instructions say to place the cards every seven feet, or something like that. Even on plants where the cards were hung, I still sometimes got TSWV. Both my blue and yellow cards caught a lot of bugs, including one ladybug and lots of houseflies. Most of what I see on there is tiny little black bugs with wings, but I don't know for sure what they are. I wish mosquitos would get stuck to those things! So combined with the weather and my quicker response to the disease, I can't say whether the cards really helped or not. In 2006 with an unusually mild winter, and no bug cards, I lost three quarters of my plants to the virus, as opposed to one quarter this year. That's all I know. __________________ Michele

August 16, 2007	#81
MsCowpea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S. FLorida / Zone 10 Posts: 369	BCDay, no I don't mean anything large like bees and butterflies. More like tiny wasps and flies. Less than 1/8 "--I could never really ID them as they are so mashed on the card but definately not thrips. More gnat-like. (Like Michele says tiny black bugs with wings.) I just decided since I really wasn't catching any thrips I didn't want to use the cards and risk eliminating possible beneficials. (Reminded me of those bug zappers where it was found they kill far more beneficial insects than mosquitoes. They can even increase the number of female mosquitoes which are the ones that actually bite. {Cornell} ) This has been my experience--as I said I never really see all that many thrips anyway when I did get TSWV. If a person really is catching alot of thrips it would be worth it but I think you need a hand lens to know for sure. __________________ "When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work." Carl Huffaker

August 16, 2007	#79
bcday Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY z5 Posts: 1,205	I set out yellow sticky cards and early in the season caught quite a few whiteflies. Now I am seeing mostly aphids. My cards aren't sticky enough to hold larger insects like butterflies or bees. What beneficial insects did you have in mind?

August 17, 2007	#82
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	I feel like I should choose fewer varieties and grow more of each because of this virus. I'm bound to lose plants, so I'm no longer comfortable growing one of anything. I'm also considering growing back ups for my plants and keeping them isolated from the rest of the garden. __________________ Michele

December 15, 2007	#83
Patrina_Pepperina Cross Hemisphere Dwarf Project™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New South Wales, Australia Posts: 3,094	I hate this disease! The plants have barely started to grow buds and this Cheeky F2 plant is already infected. I've only just put up sticky traps for this second plantout. Click for larger image PP __________________ Truth is colourful, not just black and white. PP: 2005

December 18, 2007	#85
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	Patrina, I have a few questions for you about the TSWV, if that's okay. First, when you have cold weather, how cold does it typically get? If it's colder than normal, do you see any improvement when you set your plants out or is it pretty much the same amount of damage no matter what? And have you seen a significant increase in TSWV in the last three years? And we'll continue to discuss what to do to get some relief from this awful virus as we go...I hope we can beat it. For those who are not familiar, it's just awful. It can wipe out your entire tomato garden. And now fusarium has settled into my garden too so I don't know what 2008 will hold. 2006 and 2007 were terrible tomato years, but 2005 was the best I'd ever had. So I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, Patrina! __________________ Michele

December 27, 2007	#86
kktwahoo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wahoo, Nebraska Posts: 132	We got hit hard by TSWV this past year, so does anyone know where the best place to buy this black/silver mulch is? I am going to spread the tomatoes out (we have 20+ acres) and use that mulch, if I can find it. Thanks, Kent & Kathy, in Nebraska

December 29, 2007	#87
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Kent and Kathy, Here's a link for the silver mulch. http://www.groworganic.com/item_MM40...5_Mil_30X.html __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

December 30, 2007	#89
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	Thanks for the info! __________________ Michele

January 9, 2008	#90
Patrina_Pepperina Cross Hemisphere Dwarf Project™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New South Wales, Australia Posts: 3,094	Apparently there is a predatory mite that feeds on thrips and it is being developed as a biological control here in Australia. Typhlodromips montdorensis - predates on Onion thrips, Plague thrips, Tomato, Western Flower and Melon thrips. Still under development. Does not consume adults or large thrip larvae. I will look into it for next season I think! PP __________________ Truth is colourful, not just black and white. PP: 2005