How to Manage Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus on Baby Sage Plant

//

Robby

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) can be a real headache for gardeners growing baby sage plants This destructive virus causes yellowing, stunted growth, wilting and even plant death if left uncontrolled As a sage plant lover myself, I know how heartbreaking it can be to see your precious herbs sickened by this nasty pathogen.

The good news is TSWV can be managed if caught early and the right steps are taken In this detailed guide, I’ll walk you through exactly how to identify, prevent and treat TSWV on baby sage to protect your crop. Let’s dive in!

What Exactly is Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus?

First things first, what in the world is TSWV? Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus is one of the most destructive pathogens known to impact a wide variety of ornamental flowers and vegetables, like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and baby sage.

The virus is transmitted by tiny insects called thrips. They pick up the pathogen by feeding on infected plants, then spread it to healthy plants as they munch. Once a plant is infected, the virus replicates and spreads through its tissues, causing significant damage.

TSWV gets its name from the ring-shaped spots it creates on tomato fruits. On baby sage, symptoms include stunted growth, yellowed leaves, wilting, brown spotting, and dieback. If not managed, the virus can kill young sage plants outright.

Now that you know what you’re up against, let’s go over how to identify, prevent and treat TSWV on your precious baby sage crop.

Identifying TSWV on Baby Sage Plants

The first step in managing TSWV is learning how to accurately identify it. Here are the most common symptoms to look out for:

  • Stunted or slowed growth
  • Leaves yellowing or bronzing
  • Dark brown necrotic spots on leaves
  • Plant wilting, especially in hot weather
  • Distinctive ring patterns on leaves

Baby sage infected with TSWV may exhibit one or more of these symptoms. The earlier you can spot these warning signs, the better chance you have of saving your plant.

It’s also crucial to monitor for the presence of thrips, since they spread the virus from plant to plant. Check the undersides of leaves and inside flowers for the tiny winged pests. Their feeding causes silver streaks and scarring on leaves.

If you see TSWV symptoms and notice thrips on your baby sage, it’s almost certainly the cause. Take action right away to manage the spread before the virus wreaks havoc on your whole crop.

Preventing TSWV Infection in Baby Sage Plants

Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to TSWV. Here are proactive tips to reduce the odds of your baby sage contracting this nasty virus:

Start with Healthy Plants

When buying baby sage seedlings, inspect carefully for signs of disease and pests before purchasing. Start with the healthiest plants from a reputable source.

Control Thrips Populations

Keep thrips numbers low by using insecticidal soaps, neem oil or introducing predator insects like ladybugs or lacewings. Eliminating thrips means less chance of TSWV spread.

Follow Crop Rotation

Avoid planting baby sage in the same spot as TSWV-prone crops like tomatoes, peppers or ornamentals. Crop rotation helps disrupt disease cycles.

Provide Good Growing Conditions

Healthy, vigorous baby sage plants are more resistant to viruses like TSWV. Give your herbs proper sunlight, drainage, nutrients and irrigation.

Remove Weeds

Many weeds can host thrips and even TSWV itself. Keep the garden meticulously weed-free to eliminate alternate virus reservoirs.

Monitor Frequently

Inspect baby sage routinely for symptoms and thrips presence. Early detection allows quicker treatment before TSWV damages plants extensively.

Treating and Managing TSWV Infested Baby Sage

If despite your best efforts TSWV shows up, don’t panic! Here are organic, non-toxic methods to treat infected baby sage plants and prevent the virus from spreading further:

Remove and Destroy Infected Plants

Eliminate any baby sage plants exhibiting TSWV symptoms right away. This prevents them from infecting their neighbors. Discard infected plants in sealed bags so thrips aren’t released.

Apply Organic Fungicide Sprays

Fungicidal soap, neem oil or plant extracts like garlic oil can disrupt TSWV and deter feeding thrips. Target leaf undersides to reach hiding pests. Avoid spraying open flowers attractive to pollinators.

Release Beneficial Insects

Predators like minute pirate bugs, lacewings and predatory mites devour thrips. Releasing them in your garden provides free pest control to stop TSWV spread.

Use Row Covers

Floating row covers act as insect barriers to prevent winged adult thrips from reaching baby sage plants. Drape covers directly over plants, securing the edges with stones, boards or landscape pins.

Improve Growing Conditions

Correct any issues with sunlight, drainage or nutrients to strengthen baby sage against the virus. Healthy, robust plants display greater tolerance.

Clean Tools and Hands

Disinfect gardening tools after use on infected plants. Wash hands thoroughly after handling sick plants to avoid inadvertent TSWV spread.

Protect Your Baby Sage Crop from TSWV

While TSWV is a formidable foe, armed with this knowledge you can defend your baby sage plants from infection. Stop this virus in its tracks through prevention methods, early detection and organic treatments. With vigilant monitoring and quick action, your crop will continue thriving all season long, rewarding you with bountiful, beautiful sage.

how to manage tomato spotted wilt virus on baby sage plant

IntroductionCalifornia produces ~95% of the processing tomatoes (

Plants Other Than Tomato Collected from Fields a No. Positive/No. Tested b Symptoms (+/−)
Crop Plants
Almond, walnut and other Prunus species 0/107
Common fig tree (Ficus carica) 0/30
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) 0/105
Pepper (Capsicum annuum) 306/312 +
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) 232/258 +
Radicchio (Cichorium intybus) 322/336 +
Garden cress (Lepidium sativum) 21/23 +
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) 7/21 +
Cardoon (cardone: Cynara cardunculus) 9/28 +
Onion (Allium cepa) 0/72
Ornamental and other plant species
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) 1/7 +
Nerium oleander, olive, oak, laurel, sage, cotton etc. 0/113
Weeds
Rough-seeded buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus) 130/153 d +
Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae) 0/18
London rocket (Sisymbrium irio) 1/29 +
Bindweed (Convolvulus sp.) 4/218 +
Burclover (Medicago polymorpha) 0/24
Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) 5/73 +
Dodder (Cuscuta sp.) 0/30
Common lamb’s quarter (Chenopodium album) 0/68
Malva (Malva neglecta and M. parviflora) 3/168
Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) 0/28
Prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) 8/217 +
Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) 0/47
Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) 0/53
Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) 15/191 +
Groundcherry (Physalis acutifolia) 1/36 +
Tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) 0/35
Barnyard grass (Echinochloa sp.) 0/39
Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea) 5/118
Nettle (Urtica sp.) 0/61
Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) 0/65
Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii) 0/74
Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) 0/57
Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) 0/39
Curly dock (Rumex crispus) 0/17
Turkey mullein (Eremocarpus setigerus) 0/14
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) 0/38
Black mustard (Brassica nigra) 0/87
Russian thistle (Salsola tragus) 0/65
Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceolata) 0/16
Pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) 0/5
Filaree (Erodium spp.) 0/48
Knotweed (Polygonum aviculare) 0/23
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) 0/26
Redmaids (Calandrinia ciliate) 0/24
Chickweed (Stellaria media) 0/43
Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) 0/37
Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) 3/28 +
Subtotal c 45/2159

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (

Before Planting
  • Evaluate planting location/time of planting—this will involve determining proximity to potential inoculum sources during the time of planting (if possible, avoid hot spots, planting near fields with bridge crops or late planting dates).
  • Obtain and plant TSWV- and thrips-free transplants.
  • Plant TSWV resistant varieties (i.e., possessing the Sw-5 gene). These are available but may not be necessary if other practices are followed. Varieties without the Sw-5 gene can also vary in susceptibility. At least, resistant cultivars should be used in hot-spot areas or in late-planted fields that will be established near early-planted fields in which TSWV outbreaks are likely to occur.
  • Implement weed management. Control weeds in and around tomato fields and especially in nearby fallow fields and orchards.
During the Growing Season
  • Monitor fields for thrips with yellow sticky cards to assess when thrips populations begin to increase. Use degree-day model [32] to predict when to spray (i.e., appearance of third adult thrips generation).
  • Manage thrips with insecticides at early stages of crop development and when thrips populations begin to increase (typically between the second and third generation, late March/early to mid-April).
  • Rotate insecticides to minimize development of insecticide resistance in thrips.
  • Monitor fields for TSWV and remove infected plants (rogue) early in development (<30 days after planting) and when disease incidence is low (<5%).
  • Maintain weed management efforts in and around tomato fields.
After Harvest
  • Promptly remove and destroy plants after harvest (typically done soon after mechanical harvesting of processing tomato fields).
  • Avoid planting bridge crops that are thrips/TSWV reservoirs in the areas where processing tomato crops are grown or monitor for and control thrips and TSWV in these crops.
  • Control weeds/volunteers in fallow fields, non-cropped or idle land near next year’s tomato fields (including weeds in orchards).

Batuman, O.; Turini, T.A.; LeStrange, M.; Stoddard, S.; Miyao, G.; Aegerter, B.J.; Chen, L.-F.; McRoberts, N.; Ullman, D.E.; Gilbertson, R.L. Development of an IPM Strategy for Thrips and Tomato spotted wilt virus in Processing Tomatoes in the Central Valley of California. Pathogens 2020, 9, 636. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9080636

Batuman O, Turini TA, LeStrange M, Stoddard S, Miyao G, Aegerter BJ, Chen L-F, McRoberts N, Ullman DE, Gilbertson RL. Development of an IPM Strategy for Thrips and Tomato spotted wilt virus in Processing Tomatoes in the Central Valley of California. Pathogens. 2020; 9(8):636. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9080636

Batuman, Ozgur, Thomas A. Turini, Michelle LeStrange, Scott Stoddard, Gene Miyao, Brenna J. Aegerter, Li-Fang Chen, Neil McRoberts, Diane E. Ullman, and Robert L. Gilbertson. 2020. “Development of an IPM Strategy for Thrips and Tomato spotted wilt virus in Processing Tomatoes in the Central Valley of California” Pathogens 9, no. 8: 636. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9080636 Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details

Notice You can make submissions to other journals

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess.

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: . You seem to have javascript disabled. Please note that many of the page functionalities wont work as expected without javascript enabled.

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

Why Are My Tomato Plants DYING? Managing Tomato Wilt Disease

FAQ

How do you get rid of tomato spotted wilt virus?

Disease cycle: This virus is spread by insects called thrips. Infected plants cannot be cured and should be removed to help prevent spread to uninfected plants.

What are the host plants for tomato spotted wilt?

It infects over 1,000 species in 85 families, including both monocots and dicots. In New Mexico, the virus has been confirmed in begonia, cowpea, impatiens, peanut, pepper, potato, squash, and tomato.

Is it safe to eat tomatoes with spotted wilt virus?

The color of the plants change with the new growth becoming yellowish, and the plant ceases growing and no longer produces fruit. Any fruit formed is safe for humans to eat. If the plants are affected by tomato spotted wilt virus, the fruit will not ripen properly and you will not want to eat them.

Can you treat tomato wilt?

Unfortunately there is no cure for fungal wilt diseases, so infected plants should be removed and discarded, but do not place diseased plants in the compost pile. Management techniques can be used in the home vegetable garden to control Verticillium and Fusarium wilt.

What is tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV)?

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) is a virus that has been documented on multiple farms in each of the last several years in New Hampshire; in some cases, causing significant plant and revenue loss. TSWV is often introduced on asymptomatic plants and then is transmitted by thrips to vegetable seedlings or other plants that were started by seed.

Can Tomato plants get spotted wilt virus?

Figure 1: Tomato spotted wilt virus often causes a ringspot lesion on tomato leaves. Figure 2: In severe cases, tomato fruit may become distorted by infection with tomato spotted wilt virus. The easiest way to avoid having your tomato plants get TSWV is to grow tomato plants and flowers in separate greenhouses.

How do thrips get tomato spotted wilt virus?

And usually, the thrips get the virus from ornamental plants such as flowers which may be grown together with tomato plants. Figure 1: Tomato spotted wilt virus often causes a ringspot lesion on tomato leaves. Figure 2: In severe cases, tomato fruit may become distorted by infection with tomato spotted wilt virus.

Can Tomato spotted wilt be passed through eggs?

Tomato spotted wilt virus cannot be passed from infected females through the eggs. The virus has an extremely wide host range, including many weeds and ornamentals as well as crop hosts. It is one of the few plant viruses with a host range that includes dicots and monocots (e.g., tomatoes and onions).

Leave a Comment