Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerardo
Don't worry Bill, they're all here with me, and I'm laying my plants on the pyre all too often. I hope they don't decide to travel east for June-July.
I have 22 Bella Rossa, 5 Skyway, 4 Dixie Red, and 3 Mountain Merit ready to replace the fallen. Let's hope their testudo genetics can take the biting insect onslaught known as my garden.
I went heavy on the B. Rossa from your req and fusion_power's endorsement. I'm not expecting top notch flavor, I just want tomatoes.
And as you mentioned in an earlier post, I'm also seeing a mosaic of symptoms and disease severity. Some plants appear to limit the infection to one stem, some fight the senescence the best they can, and some can keep chugging along (albeit slower and with less vigor) and set tomatoes.
And also, they seem to stay away from darker leaf varieties and the natural purple ones.
I can only reduce the number of thrips present, eradication is impossible.
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I knew I should have kept my big mouth shut. Found another tomato plant that I'm pretty sure has TSWV late in the afternoon. It, like the first plant infected with TSWV, was in the bed with my latest plants set out in the middle of May. It was very late in the day but you know how you see a plant that just isn't growing as well and then take a very close look. Despite it being near dark I'm pretty sure it is also infected and since it is nearly half the size of the other tomato plants set out that date. I'll find out for sure when the sun comes up this morning. This arthritis sure gets me up for an early but very slow start.
I was spraying Daconil in hopes of keeping the EB from getting to the new bed because it is starting to hit quite a bit of the foliage on the other two beds with the heavily producing plants when I noticed this plant looking a bit stunted. I'll be out clipping and pruning this morning if I can get my hands to cooperate. It was in the mid 90s yesterday and I spent what time I could outside fertilizing again. With this heat and humidity I don't think I'll see that abundant fruit set again this season so I'm encouraging them with some TTF. I need to get some more plants grafted but in this heat it is very hard to have much success; but I would like to set out some more plants by the middle of July if possible or even sooner if I can. I know that the abundant tomato harvest that is happening right now will end very soon and new plants almost always do better than the old ones at setting fruit in the heat.
Bill