Curly Top Virus on my tomatoes

9 years ago

I'm in West Los Angeles, around 3 miles from the coast and my backyard garden has been hit hard by curly top virus. First my tomatoes and now my peppers are starting to get it. I'm not sure if the curling on my gita pole beans is also a result of curly top virus or not. Most of my vegetables are in raised planters on a drip system and covered in red plastic mulch. I have been spraying with pytherins and neem oil to kill the leafhoppers that spread the virus, but plants still keep coming down with it.

If I pull the infected plants, it is possible to replant in the same vegetable in that spot after waiting a certain amount of time? If not, what vegetables don't get curly top virus? Is is possible to build another raised planter and plant tomatoes in there, or is it endemic in my backyard, so just give it up with tomatoes? And what about next year or even planting in fall? Is every year different? So disappointing.

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (5)

jean001a
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I suspect herbicide damage because curly top is seldom so extensive in home gardens.

Need pictures, please
Xochitl
Original Author
9 years ago

jean001a, thank you for the response. Posted this also in other garden forum on California Gardening.

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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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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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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appears to be physiological roll. see this http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/hot_topics/2008/05tomato_leaf_roll.html
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jean001a
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What mix are they growing in?
If in the ground, what did you add to the soil pre-plant?
Are you using any fertilizer? If so, what, how much, and how often.

Did you review any info found online?

If not, see this from UC: for commercial growers

And this from UC: for home gardeners

Look at the images on both pages.
The symptoms on your plant are similar but, to my eye, not the same.
markbudde
8 years ago
Did you ever resolve this? My tomatoes were also decimated with symptoms identical to curly top virus in San Gabriel Valley.
Jean
8 years ago
Possible herbicide carryover in compost and/or manure? (Mimics curly top.)

See this
http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sfn/f09Herbicide

Curly Top Virus on my tomatoes

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jean001a

Xochitl
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Curly Top Virus on my tomatoes

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jean001a

XochitlOriginal Author

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Xochitl
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