Re: [tomato] dappling leaves
Margaret Lauterbach (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Sat, 28 Feb 1998 10:53:47 -0700
At 09:42 AM 2/28/98 -0800, you wrote:
>>This could be a virus, such as Tobacco mosaic virus. Do you or any of your
>>guests smoke then visit the garden? Or take cigarettes or cigars to the
>>garden and handle your plants? It can be transmitted by smoke or by smoked
>>hands. Cut off a branch and take it to your county agent for positive ID.
>>If it is a virus, you need to rogue it out and put the plant in your trash.
>>other viruses can be transmitted by aphids or whiteflies. Your healthy
>>plant may already be infected and not show it yet. Good luck (at least
>>it's very early in the season)...Margaret
>
>Thanks for the warning. I'm pretty sure that it couldn't be mosaic virus,
>but I will watch them very carefully and get rid of them if they start to
>decline. We don't smoke, and the seedlings are still indoors under lights,
>so their environment is quite controlled. But if they don't turn around
>pretty quickly, I think it might be best to trash them instead of taking
>additional chances with those younger seedlings on the opposite side of the
>grow lights. Thanks again.
>
>Regards,
>
>Laurie
>
Seed-borne viruses afflict peppers, and they may also affect tomatoes. The
advice for "cleaning" seed of viruses in peppers is to pre-soak seeds in a
10% solution of tri-sodium phosphate for two hours. Weird, huh?
Tri-sodium phosphate is the TSP sold in paint stores to clean walls before
you paint. Hope it's just a nutrient deficiency. Margaret