Curly top virus??

9 years ago

Hello all!

Back again, with a new tomato plant, and problems. :(

Bought a celebrity plant about 2 weeks ago, transplanted it, gave it good soil/amended soil, plant food/fertilizer, and sprayed it with bonide vegetable spray.

Thought all was going well, up until about 3-4 days ago, when I brought home a Nasurtium (sp?) flower from a different nursery and placed it next to my celebrity tomato plant, and within a day, I noticed one of the bottom leaves curling on the celebrity plant.

I immediately removed the contained nasurtium plant away from the tomato plant, hoping it was just an unrelated thing.

All my plants are growing in containers, btw.

So, i've noticed that the curl seems to have continued throughout the plant.

I removed it from the container garden today, in hopes that it did not pass along the 'disease' to the remaining tomato plants.

As of right now the others look ok.

I thought it was just dry, or maybe over-fertilized but now I am starting to really think something more serious is going on.

We had heavy rains last night, and when I came out to look at my garden, I noticed that the leaves on the celebrity still look gnarled/curly.

So, what do you think? Is it Curly top virus? Or over-fertilization.

Also, when I brought home the nasurtium plant, I noticed these weird little brownish/mottled looking jumpy bugs surrounding them. What are they?

Guess that's it, for now.

Here's the pics.

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Comments (8)

Just1tomatoplantplz
Original Author
9 years ago
more pics
Just1tomatoplantplz
Original Author
9 years ago
last pic
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Yeah, overwatering can cause problems. Usually it causes yellowing and wilting/curling, and it *might* be playing a part in the curling. It's been suddenly hot here too, and by the end of the week it will be back to normal, which could mean cooler nights again. Anyhow, for watering requirements, stick your finger in the soil up to the second knuckle; if it's damp there's no need to water. But I know what you mean about the sudden explosion of heat. It can be tempting to overwater. :-) My experience in my zone is that chilly days and nights (usually nights) can cause purpling. My understanding is that tomatoes cannot take up phosphorous when it gets too cold. They should gradually turn back to green but, if you get another cold snap and they get chilled again, they can pick up the purple coloring again. The fact that they get purple for a while should not hurt them. You might want to spray fertilize (the foliage) with a seaweed or fish emulsion or another gentle fertilizer that contains P and other micronutrients, and that should help. That way, the plant can get what it needs through the leaves, instead of being completely dependent on the roots in cold soil. But, really, the purple will go away when the temps get consistently warmer, especially soil temps. I think Tomato Tone may be a slow release fertilizer? It appears to be a very popular fertilizer and I have used it myself with no complaints and good results. But, since the purple indicates that the roots haven't gotten up to speed yet with taking in nutrients, do the foliage spray with a gentle fertilizer to green up the plants a bit quicker. A lot of aphids can stress the plants a bit; a few usually aren't a significant problem. You can spray them off with a hose or use Neem oil. Be careful with Neem oil in the hot weather -- some people have reported leaf damage from Neem when the temps are high. Your plants look otherwise healthy to me. Keep up the good work.
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Three things are needed for a disease to take hold. 1) A susceptible plant (of course), 2) The vector, in this case an insect, 3) The presence of the disease in the vicinity. If you are missing one, it won't happen. Spraying for the insect that carries CTV does very little except make you feel better; all it takes is one nibble by one infected leafhopper, and you can't get every single one no matter how much you spray. Do what you can, but don't bring out the big guns just in the hopes of beating the virus. Especially don't bring them out because you see things which might be the right insect, with no idea whether the virus is anywhere in your area. What seems to be most effective is getting rid of weeds around and surrounding the garden, during all times of year. Weeds act as a habitat for the leafhopper, and many can also carry the virus itself. When you have that reservoir of virus, and a nice comfy spot for leafhoppers to live and breed all through the year, the chances for infection go way up. Take out as many weeds as you can, all around the yard and as far beyond as possible. Assume that you'll have to replace a few plants, if you know for sure that it's a problem where you are. Keep the plants as healthy as you can otherwise. Then cross your fingers for luck. :) --Alison
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Okay, thanks for the input. I figured it would probably be impossible without pics, so I'm trying to get them working now. I haven't sprayed an weed killer etc. I saw from other posts that I read that that can have similar effects. However, there is a golf course less than half a mile from here and it was very windy (gust of about 20/25 mph I would guess) for about 2 days. I was pretty stupid and actually pruned off some of the most twisted lower branches as they had a few fungus spots on them. So, the lower branches in the pictures are not nearly as twisted and are not a great representation. Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures
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Sorry for the poor quality photo. This was from a tomato I already tore out days ago! Ugggg! I took some plant leaves to Armstrong and they told me to pull it immediately. The bottom of the leaves looked purple, with some leaves having only half the leaf purple. The leaves also seemed to be growing down. This plant was in front of my garage in a wine barrel, but I have a much larger garden in the rear, behind some structures (a garage and a library.) That part of the garden is in raised beds on a drip watering system covered in red plastic mulch. I amended the soil this year with some planting mix and add some organic fertilizers for tomatoes, and some extra potassium and potash, as the soil testing kit said those were extremely low. I had high nitrogen so didn't add any. Like I said, I pulled out this and two other plants in wine barrels because they told me at Armstrong Garden Center that this virus would spread if I didn't. I did look it up and everything online seem to agree. Plus, I was so worried about my 11 tomato plants in the raised bed in back. Now the tomato plants in back are starting to get leaves with purple veins. And the weird part is is that I have not seen any leaf hoppers in my yard, the supposed vector. I have sprayed with Neem Oil and Spinosad -Captain Jacks on all the plants and after the folks at Armstrong said I had the curly top virus, I sprayed with pyrethrin. Any help is much appreciated!!!
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Just1tomatoplantplz
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for any help/insight! :)

These tomato plants are driving me crazy!!!
seysonn
9 years ago
I Think and hope that your tomato is healthy. Probably has been fed just a bit too much. I would cut down on feeding and give it a bit more water. Probably that shopping bag gets dry more often. I see a lot of perlite in the soil mix too .That too make a good well drained condition demanding water.

I think the Nasturtium was just a coincident.

Lets see what other will say. This was JMO.
centexan254 zone 8 Temple, Tx
9 years ago
That plant looks green enough to me. Some tomatoes in containers will get leaf curl no matter what you do. Keep it properly watered, and follow the directions on the fertilizer,and you should get some tomatoes off of that plant.

I would advise to keep doing what you have been it looks like it is working so far. Do not worry about it. I know from your previous post that you have a rough time with the learning curve involved. Your determination is starting to pay off.
Just1tomatoplantplz
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you both, so very much, for your insight!

I hope, hope, hope, it's just physiological leaf curl (is that correct?).

Yes, I have had SO much trouble with growing tomato plants thus far.

I really cannot believe how much care they actually need!??

So, all I did with this plant was relocate it to the front of my house.

Just in CASE there is something underlying going on.

Will let everyone know, as I watch it grow.

Thanks, and fingers crossed!!! :)
carolyn137
9 years ago
You don't say where you live and garden which is important since Curly Top Virus is only found in western states, is transmitted by Beet Leaf Hoppers and is a real problem for folks who especially live near sugar beet fields.

The leaf hoppers descend ,not just on one plant,but usually almost all plants in a garden.

So no, I doubt CurlyTop Virus,

Curly leaves, upside down leaves, etc., can be due to several reasons , but methinks I'll let others describe those since I'm still recovering from lack of sleep from the wicked storms of yesterday and days before and am going to take a nap after I'm through at GW right now.( smile)

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Curly Top Virus
Just1tomatoplantplz
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you so much Carolyn!

I do NOT live in western US. (NorthEast actually) Phew! Well, that at least eliminates 1 virus from the list. Lol.

Sadly, I've had such poor luck with my tomato plants this year. Up to date I have lost 3 seedlings. 1 to heat stroke (maybe??) and the other 2 were malnourished and perhaps infected. I of course helped their demise by overpruning them.

Now, I am left with 5 tomato plants. All of different variety.

2 were from the previous batch (which have been pruned...but seem to be thriving)..and there are 3 newbies.

Of the 5 remaining, the Celebrity (which I purchased for it's disease resistence) is the only one with this curly leaf issue.

It has been relocated, but still same amount of care.

I am washing my hands between care of the plants (just in case).

The other 4 plants are

husky cherry red, patio, big boy, and yellow gold.

HOPING at least 1 of the 5 produces an edible batch of fruit to enjoy during it's season.

Hence my username. LOL.

Wish me luck, and thanks all for the support!

Happy and healthy growing to ALL! :)

Curly top virus??

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Just1tomatoplantplz
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Curly top virus??

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