What else could possibly go wrong?
Having dispatched with the pests (…in words) we’re now left with pathological disorders and diseases – fungal, bacterial and virus.
The fungal list seems dauntingly long. They clearly love to go sporth and multiply.
So we’ll leave them for another day and start with the less daunting list of Bacterial (1) and Virus (1).
Tomato Pith Necrosis
Bacterial disease. Spread by rain water, water splash or transferred by hand.
With no treatment avaliable affected plants have to be removed and burnt.
Symptoms are upper leaves wilting and turning yellow and stems developing dark brown/black patches which continue into the inner stem tissue.
TMV
Virus. Short for Tobacco Mosaic Virus. With lots of hosts, it’s easily spread by hand, tools and on clothes so disinfecting and sterilising are important as is aphid control. Those sap sucking pests are trouble.
Again no treatment which means removing and burning affected plants and then doing that with all plants and soil at the end of the season.
Symptoms are a plant reduced in vigour and stunted in its growth.
Leaves have mottled/mosaic patterning in yellow or light/dark green and are often small and deformed. When fruit ripen they have bronze blotches or yellow streaks.
Varieties are available bred for resistance against TMV.
Photo by wili hybrid
