I don't usually post but had to tell you all how much I admire your plants. OMG! I can't believe how nice those tomato plants are!! My last two tomato plants are barely hanging on, finally transplanted a grape tomato out of a container into a morning sun/afternoon shade area in my garden and the husky cherry is under my oak tree. I have one lone tomato on it and am determined to see it through to ripeness. Bamboo Rabbit - I would really be interested in getting some Matts Wild Cherry tomato seed from you if you have any to spare. BTW I'm waiting for a shipment from Jung's of Yummy Peppers. I've always gotten aphids on my peppers, whenever I've put them in the garden, so I'm interested to see if these will deter them. Sylvie

I'll add my 2 cents about the photo. I didn't read back through all of the posts. As I need to get outside, water and do a few things. Had seen Dawn's post yesterday but wanted to wait to comment till I had a few minutes to give it some thought and read a couple of my marked sites I use for identification. First I will say my initial impression is I'm not convinced it is TSWV. Coloration in a photo can be deceiving. Another problem is if I knew the variety and color of ripened fruit it might help a little. And after reading Dawn's link I'm not sure I've been properly diagnosing everything that has TSWV. It has made me consider sending at least one plant off for disease ID diagnosis. The two sites I use the most often are Cornell and Texas A&M although I have 3-4 more marked I consult on TSWV and a few other diseases. None of the discolored areas seemed to be raised in the picture. The stems look to have a nice color of green and the leaves don't appear to exhibit the symptoms I normally look for. Many times if the disease has progressed to any extent the plant will be stunted. The growing tips will die, the veins on some leaves will usually turn purple and usually roll/curl, the leaves and stems many times will turn a bronze color. Like mentioned on some sites the severity of the infection will determine to some extent the symptoms you see. I've seen a few fruit exhibit the ringspots, discoloration and raised spots and other fruit ripen normally. And I was certain these plants had TSWV before the season was over. If a person feels the thrips have moved on then they can let the fruit on an infected plant ripen. The plant probably won't grow much if any more and usually most of the flower buds will die when they form and never set fruit. But again I've seen exceptions. The first signs I look for are stunting, bronzing of the leaves and stems and purple veins on the plants. Then on the fruit I watch for the coloration and raised spots. If the discoloration is smooth and no raised areas then I'm usually doubtful unless several of the other symptoms are present. On the fruit did you pick it and take it inside to ripen. I'm seen the uneven ripening discoloration go away once I picked it and took it inside to finish ripening. If it does then I would suspect something else. I have had one fruit that exhibited the discoloration this year but not the raised spots. And the rest of the fruit behind it so far have ripened normally. I'm not yet convinced what this plant has. If I felt strongly it was TSWV I would of yanked it. I yanked several with 50-60 fruit on them over the last 14 days with disease issues. A few of them with what I felt was TSWV. Maybe over reaction. I may yank another tomorrow and send it off for identification. The link that Dawn posted has me doubting my diagnosis some. I hate to yank it but can't get a positive ID without doing that. Like Dawn stated many/most of the time a plant maybe infected with multiple diseases. This causes them to show a mix of symptoms and also makes it harder to not only diagnose properly but to make the correct decision about whether to treat/trim or yank a plant. Again I have some doubt that yours in TSWV. The fact all are infected makes it odd. The only time I ever saw most of the plants infected was one year I planted 2 rows 4 ft a part with the south row being just north of my onion rows. I had TSWV on all but one plant in the south row next to the onions. Like 18 out of 19 plants if memory serves me correctly. The row 4 ft to the north had about a 1/3 of the plants infected. The problem is the thrips are attracted to onions and it was easy for them to move over to the tomatoes. They travel mainly with the winds. Our prevailing wind is from the SW. So only natural for them to move to the north row. I don't plant tomatoes next to onions anymore and have reduced my problems. This year I did plant peppers next to them thinking the onions would mature and be out before I had many issues. Most of the onions haven't matured yet. I have a few plants with TSWV I need to yank. I did have minor thrip issues on the onions this year so know they were here. I've ID 3 tomato plants that I feel comfortable with the diagnosis with TSWV this year. There is possibly more but these are those that exhibited enough symptoms I feel 99% certain about. The only positive way is too send a plant to a lab I've been told. If you will provide the information about what you have noticed on the stems, growth habit of the plants, what the top growing tips look like, is there any new growth or blooms, is there any change in color of the leaves. Any sign of leaves or stems bronzing? This info depending on what it is could change my mind about it being TSWV. At this point from the pictures like I stated above I'm doubtful. Jay Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell

Dang. Heartbreaking to see your pictures. Hope you can nurse them back. I was thinking overspray too, but I have a similar problem with leaf curl but no drying. I believe I used too much compost. The man at the nursery suggested too much water; we have had a lot of rain lately. Also, he said to cultivate around the plants to release any gasses that may be trapped in the soil. I'll try anything, but it's too soon to tell. Wish I had more info for you.

grow_em_maters, "what would you recommend for killing the aphids?" To control aphids you can brush them off with your fingers, spray them off with a water hose, spray with insecticidal soap, spray with left over soapy dish washing water (not the kind from a dish washer), or use something stronger like sevin. I brush them off or use insecticidal/soapy dish washing water. "Are they related?" Possibly. The problem with the internet is that you can't see the plant and how it's been developing, etc. which makes problem diagnosis very difficult. Later I'm going to ask some questions that will help with diagnosis. I'm not going to be around for a few days, but someone may be able to help out. Oh, and don't forget your local extension service may be able to help. You didn't mention that the plants are wilted, stunted, have lesions on the stem, or other serious issues. Based on that and what I'm seeing I'm going to assume that it isn't a fatal disease like one of the stem diseases or late blight. But, that's based on an assumption and you know what that means. Therefore, the assumption is that it is a foliage disease, the result of splash back, or because of the aphids. So, based on all of those assumptions, don't pull the plants, spray with daconil (or similar products), try to cut down on splash back, and try to keep the lower leaves dry. Also, continue to monitor and observe the plants. The questions. How old are the plants? Have you seen any other problems like wilting or stunted growth? How long have you seen the problem? What are your watering habits? What other helpful information can you provide that I haven't asked? Good luck. Randy p.s. I'm also not seeing halos, concentric circles, and other things that are indicators of certain diseases which contributes to why a more specific assesment can't be made at this time.