Nu Kua
Aug 18th, 2011, 8:25 PM
I thought it might be useful to share information on various diseases and pests encountered.
I just lost my entire tomato crop to tomato spotted wilt virus, and further, my suspicions that the eggplants are infected are bearing out, but I'm not sure yet. :( It relates to thrips, destructive little creatures I am just now learning about. I've been kind of reading with my jaw dropped because the way I have been growing plants in my greenhouse is actually very inviting to these pests.
Cornell University (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Virus_SpottedWilt.htm):
...Symptoms on Vegetables
Tomato. Symptoms expressed on leaves, petioles, stems, and fruit will vary, depending on the stage plants are infected. Young leaves may show small, dark-brown spots and eventually die. Dark brown streaks also appear on stems and leaf petioles. Growing tips are usually severely affected with systemic necrosis and greatly stunted growth. The plant may exhibit one-sided growth. Tomato fruit set on severely infected plants will display very characteristic symptoms: immature fruit have mottled, light green rings with raised centers; the unique orange and red discoloration patterns on mature fruits make them unmarketable...
Some examples here (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Virus_SpottedWilt.htm#Click2). Mine don't look as terrible as that, but the tomatoes are all turning that color and they grew in a funny, elongated kind of a pear shape. A lot of the leaves are dark and curly. And, the blossoms dying is something I noticed since last year, not too much but I did wind up sacrificing 4 plants, though I thought they had something else. The blossoms would die about an inch above the stem, from there on the blossom just turns brown, dies and disintegrates.
I haven't destroyed them yet so if I remember I'll post some pictures. apparently, these things have a wide range of plants they attack- some prefer flowers, others, vegetables.
I just lost my entire tomato crop to tomato spotted wilt virus, and further, my suspicions that the eggplants are infected are bearing out, but I'm not sure yet. :( It relates to thrips, destructive little creatures I am just now learning about. I've been kind of reading with my jaw dropped because the way I have been growing plants in my greenhouse is actually very inviting to these pests.
Cornell University (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Virus_SpottedWilt.htm):
...Symptoms on Vegetables
Tomato. Symptoms expressed on leaves, petioles, stems, and fruit will vary, depending on the stage plants are infected. Young leaves may show small, dark-brown spots and eventually die. Dark brown streaks also appear on stems and leaf petioles. Growing tips are usually severely affected with systemic necrosis and greatly stunted growth. The plant may exhibit one-sided growth. Tomato fruit set on severely infected plants will display very characteristic symptoms: immature fruit have mottled, light green rings with raised centers; the unique orange and red discoloration patterns on mature fruits make them unmarketable...
Some examples here (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Virus_SpottedWilt.htm#Click2). Mine don't look as terrible as that, but the tomatoes are all turning that color and they grew in a funny, elongated kind of a pear shape. A lot of the leaves are dark and curly. And, the blossoms dying is something I noticed since last year, not too much but I did wind up sacrificing 4 plants, though I thought they had something else. The blossoms would die about an inch above the stem, from there on the blossom just turns brown, dies and disintegrates.
I haven't destroyed them yet so if I remember I'll post some pictures. apparently, these things have a wide range of plants they attack- some prefer flowers, others, vegetables.