I disagree... herbicide damage rarely causes spots on the leaves, and the yellowing tends to be a general overall thing (especially on the growing tips), not mottled. It's always easier to figure out with a picture, but a virus is possible. TMV is, indeed, almost nonexistent outside of labs in the US. Cucumber Mosaic Virus, on the other hand, is out there, and may be more common than you think (many Heavenly Bamboo plants carry it; the resulting red color is considered desirable). There is also Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, which is rampant in many parts of the country. Both CMV and TSWV are vectored by insects; they are the major viruses we usually run into in tomato plants. They can strike individual plants, leaving neighbors alone. If you're dealing with an herbicide, the effects will show up on neighboring plants which are close to each other and sharing the bed, or different species of plants that share the same soil/exposure, like squash or peppers (but not necessarily every kind of vegetable). The plants might pull out of a light exposure once the source of herbicide is removed; the best sign is when they start to grow again. Badly herbicide-damaged or virus-infected plants will stop growing or slow to a crawl, and will never start again. Am I stuck with never using this soil for tomatoes again? No. Any virus you are likely to encounter in tomatoes doesn't persist in the soil. If your soil is contaminated with herbicide (and I can't imagine how you would manage that with Mel's Mix, unless the compost part was badly contaminated) then you will have to get rid of it, but not if the herbicide drifted over from elsewhere. How badly will my harvest suffer? Virus-infected plants will not bear, or will bear misshapen and often bad-tasting fruit. Since you're not likely to get any good fruit out of these plants once the virus is well established, you'll have fewer plants to harvest from. If herbicide-damaged plants recover, they will be set back by at least a few weeks, but the fruit you get after that should be fine. Is moving the plants to a different part of my back yard sufficient, or do I need to destroy them? If it's a virus, you need to pull them. CMV and TSWV are transmitted by insects which can fly, and infected plants can serve as a reservoir for insects to infect your currently healthy plants. (Besides, they won't fruit well, so why keep them?) If it's herbicide damage... well, if the soil isn't the problem, and there's no new drift from elsewhere, then there's no real point to moving them. Either they'll pull out or they won't. How likely is it that all my tomato plants are infected? I have around a dozen plants and hate to think that I need to destroy them all. I've gotten a few virus-infected plants over the years; once I confirm that it's a virus rather than some quirk of weather or genetics, I pull the (usually single) plant and look for the same symptoms on other plants. Out of three years I've had a virus problem, I've had to pull four plants total, and I grow over 15 plants a year. So keep your eyes peeled, and if you're lucky, it might turn out to be just a couple. They're all growing well. Now this is what confuses me. Is it just the normal-looking plants that are growing well? If so, cross your fingers and leave them be. If the shoestring-leaf ferny plants are also growing "well", as in vigorous and putting out lots of new growth, digdirt may be onto something with his herbicide theory. Here's a few pics to help out: Cucumber Mosaic Virus Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus --Alison

Reading these posts caused me to finally do what I'd been planning to for a while and begin virus testing my small collection. I have a number of older awarded Cattleya species but had never really worried about them because I never saw any strange spots or anything like that to make me suspicious. Now I've come to regard the absence of leaf spots as meaningless since I've gotten some positive results back on plants that were fairly clean looking but were very poor growers and seldom-to-never bloomers. My new procedure is to find out from a grower before I buy a plant what the grower's return policy might be in case the plant I purchase tests positive when I receive it. I've asked a few eBay sellers and gotten a satisfactory response from all but one, which won't answer my question at all. Perhaps not coincidentally, the plants I got from him last year have tested positive, however too much time had passed to mention this to him now. I'm still sending small batches of samples to Critter Creek, will continue til I get them all tested, and new ones as soon as I acquire them. Thank for starting this thread and keeping it going, lots of good information. sym

Hello, I am new to this forum and have been a hobbyist for about 5 years. Window growing with lights and humidifiers (big window ^.^) and now in the process of building a green house. Obviously no expert. Began with traditional phals...now I mostly have catts and have very good success with them. With the green house coming, I decided to virus test my collection of about 80 plants and 15 were virused; ironically, ten were the "failure to thrive" group I've been hanging onto and had little reason to continue after that. But I LOVED those plants just the same. The other five have CymMV and are doing fine quarantined. Nick, if your collection is fairly valuable and/or sentimental...WHY RISK bringing in these plants? My recommendation would be to take them ONLY IF you have a separate place to nurture them before you give them away to your family and friends. Denise

Xuan, you THE BEST!! Yes, I had new growth just like you posted, had them during the summer time. The ones I have right now look like flowers! YAY!! And yes, Sweetcicely, I will try to post my pics! Quicky question : the night Temps here might drop soon to about 40F ( +3- +4C), but 55-65F daytime (about +15C).. Should I bring my Cyms inside for the night? We dont have freezing temps yet.. MG