The TSWV infections have slowed in the tomato plants but I am having more infections in my bell peppers. So far a little over a half dozen gone but I'm sure more will get it before the summer is over and I haven't picked a single bell pepper yet. TSWV is much harder to spot in peppers than in tomatoes because you don't usually see the speckling of the leaves as much. The first thing to look for is a plant that is really slow growing compared to the others planted the same time. Next look to see if there are any new blooms and new fruit. Sometimes the leaves will look a bit weird and unhealthy. Eventually there will be no new growth and sometimes a burned look where the new growth should be. I have a few more showing symptoms and will probably be pulling them soon. I planted another bed of peppers the last week so instead of trying to replace the ones that die from TSWV I just have some extras in the ground already. Not sure how well those plants will do as they have sat on the hardening table for a long time and were terribly root bound and very old for transplanting but I stuck them in the ground anyway since I had plenty of room since removing my cucumbers and squash.

Bill

Tswv is hitting me hard. I've been spraying every week with alternating insecticides plus have 12 yellow sticky traps that I have replaced for the second time. I've pulled at least 30 plants with about 20 plants left. Is it safe to use saved seed? I received some of Carolyn's last seed. I love Dikovinka and saved some of the first ripe tomato seeds. Inshir Rozovyi and Viva so far look okay but still green. I ordered and tried Slava this year and it seems to withstanding the onslaught. Mountain Magic didn't make it.

I've got a couple of more bells that need pulling due to TSWV after pulling one last week. I'm not worried about the tomatoes any more because most of them are pretty worn out and near the end unless I want to spend a lot of time and effort getting them back to making a few tomatoes. TSWV has not been too much of a problem with my tomatoes the past month because I have been spraying them regularly for spider mites and I think it has lessened the thrips infecting them.

Bill

Every single tomato in our community garden is infected like this. It is on leaves as well as on stems. Is it tswv

Here some more pictures

It sure looks like TSWV. Are the new blooms dying or dead? Is the top new growth looking like it is burned around the edges of the leaves?

If all your plants have it then there is no need to pull the plants if they have some healthy looking tomatoes on them. Let them start to ripen and by then the plants will probably start dying or wilting from the top. If what you have is TSWV it is very rare for a plant to continue producing new fruit although I have had it happen to a few and they held on for months with very slow production and smaller fruit; but usually it is only a matter of a few weeks at most before the plant starts dying after showing the rust like appearance in the leaves.

Bill

Thank you for the explanation. I had cut the top to prevent it from spreading but it did not work

[QUOTE=atilgan;759850]Thank you for the explanation. I had cut the top to prevent it from spreading but it did not work[/QUOTE]

Once the plant is infected there isn't anything that I have tried or anything that I have heard of that slows it down or stops it. I have tried both removing plants immediately upon spotting the disease and leaving them in place until they die or wilt totally. It doesn't seem to make any difference in whether or not I got more infections on clean plants even the ones right next to each other. It must not spread very easily other than through the thrips that infect the plants initially and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop them from doing so when they show up. TSWV cases seem to come in waves at different times with usually the heaviest infestation early in the season and with lighter cases popping up from time to time over the whole season but that could just be my experience with the disease and it also could be my location.

The only effective thing I have found that has so far assured me of a productive season despite the ravages of TSWV is to plant far more tomatoes and peppers than I need and just remove the sick ones when it strikes. It can leave some very gappy rows at times of heavy or frequent infections of TSWV and at other times I end up with way more tomatoes than we can deal with in seasons where TSWV is not as pervasive as usual down here.

Bill

That may be one of the Tomato Mottle viruses. For practical purposes, they are similar in many ways to TSWV. The only cure is to remove infected plants. Some breeders have been working on mottle virus resistance but are having difficulty getting the gene from a wild species to cross over into a better genetic background.

Can whitefly be a vector? My back garden seems to be worse for tomato growing. I did have raspberry plants move from the other side of the fence and I let them take over a raised bed. It has been a whitefly battle. The raspberries are about 20 feet from my other raised beds. Seriously I am thinking of giving up tomatoes in the back and growing them just in the front. We have a good source of water and I grow tomatoes there on cattle panels.
Thanks,
Barb

Whiteflies are a vector for several other viruses such as TYLC so there is a good possibility they also transmit TSWV. It is most likely that other insects are the primary vector.

[QUOTE=barbamWY;761297]Can whitefly be a vector? My back garden seems to be worse for tomato growing. I did have raspberry plants move from the other side of the fence and I let them take over a raised bed. It has been a whitefly battle. The raspberries are about 20 feet from my other raised beds. Seriously I am thinking of giving up tomatoes in the back and growing them just in the front. We have a good source of water and I grow tomatoes there on cattle panels.
Thanks,
Barb[/QUOTE]

Had no idea white flies were a problem in Wyoming! Dang.

I would assume they can transmit various viruses. Thrips are also virus carriers.

[QUOTE=Fred Hempel;761696]Had no idea white flies were a problem in Wyoming! Dang.

I would assume they can transmit various viruses. Thrips are also virus carriers.[/QUOTE]
We have thrips and white flies both in Wyoming. My yellow sticky traps just get loaded with white flies. I did get thrips diagnosed from my friend who worked at the extension office. Pretty cool her computer screen could show me what was on my sticky trap. I have lots of land to spread out my plants. I bought a few grow bags to use on my patio but otherwise I'm giving up tomatoes near the raspberries. I wonder though. Is it safe to plant potatoes where I had disease issues on tomato plants?
Barb

No.

Potatoes get most of the same diseases.

I don't even grow potatoes, because all of my solanaceous rotation space is devoted to peppers and tomatoes.

Whiteflies are becoming a problem in just about every state north of the Gulf Coast up to about Kentucky. Any location with suitable hot weather can develop an infestation. The most effective measures to limit damage are to eliminate common hiding places and remove plants that are alternative hosts. Spraying can be effective in some circumstances, but there are always more whiteflies to re-colonize an area.

Some work at Waginengen was discussed here a few times over the last 10 years indicating resistance breeding is viable. It is worth a look at the original papers.

[URL]https://www.academia.edu/6874956/Resistance_to_Bemisia_tabaci_in_tomato_wild_relatives[/URL]

Look at the bottom center of the page for a button to read online or you can download the pdf.

Here are some alternate links I've used before.

[URL]http://edepot.wur.nl/215863[/URL]

[URL]http://edepot.wur.nl/222200[/URL]