Curly top virus?

[chancethegardener]

Thanks for the link. The good thing is that it doesn't survive in the soil even though the thrips lay eggs in the soil. I think that treating the plants starting from the first day they are transplanted will resolve this. Man, the plants I lost were so beautiful with lots of fruits on them .

[John3]

chancethegardener I am trying to find out the stage they live in the ground if any of their body is made of chitin - if so crushed crab shell feeds chitin micros that eat the chitin - so if the stage they live in ground, and they have chitin, the micros could kill them off.

One would think there would a list of bad garden insects that had chitin in them (or surrounding them - in the case of JB the grubs have chitin jaws so the micros eat that and they can't feed)

[chancethegardener]

Well, as you know, I use crab shells for fertilizer, Ca support, and fungus treatment. Actually this is a very good point. Maybe every 2 weeks, adding crab shells on the soil-without mixing it in- might help (in case they are made of chitin at that stage as you said). I will check this out, too.

[dice]

The thrips (in the case of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus) and whiteflies
(in the case of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus) pass on the virus by
biting the plant. So you would not transmit it from one plant to
another by handling an infected plant.

[kurt]

Ladybugs will stop the life cycle.I ordered them years ago and since I keep a lot of fruit trees,gardenias, jasmines, they have established themselves in the yard they do thier job.As long as you have a nectar source for them they will stick around.And they are great pollinators also.I have seen them in the mulch underneath the trees also.When we have some times a year when there is not too many flowers out I put out nectar sticks to keep them happy as a reward for thier good work.Just do not be alarmed when you see these alligator looking baby ladybugs that are mistaken for a pest.

[b54red]

I usually have a bountiful supply of ladybugs in the spring but they quickly move on when it gets hot. They usually start the year in my peach tree which will be covered with them for a few weeks then they move into the garden and help with the aphids for a while then they just disappear even though I always have plenty of squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers for them. I know there is no shortage of aphids and whiteflies but by the time I realize they have moved on the whiteflies are usually a real problem. A week ago they were on all of my plants and this week I have only seen a couple even with all the blooming plants in the garden. Could birds be getting a lot of them? I have a lot of birds hanging around the garden constantly.

[kurt]

If you have a dry spell they will look for water and are hiding from the sun also.I know birds will try them and soon find out they are not tasty(they have a built in brown type spit that repels predators).Underneath my gardenias I leave a bunch of mulch and know they are in there caus I see thier little amber yellow egg sacs.I water the area for them.If you have seen them over the years you are in good shape.If you gather a couple dozen or so move them to problem areas with their mulch habitat and they will find the aphids and start all over again.Found out once they wipe out food supply they move on to next source.I usually buy some powdered nectar that you mix with distilled water and place in areas that I think pests will be coming,then I move some Lbugs in they feed on nectar and lay a new bunch of eggs and do thier business.They do lay thier eggsacks close to pest sacs so the offspring has something to eat as they emerge.I do not use any chemical treatment at all because I feel that the chemicals kill the beneficials(insects and fungus)and upsets the balance of nature.Plus a bottle of the junk cost as much or more than a bag of ladybugs or lacewings anyway.

[John3]

chancethegardener finding some information - so it seems the egg is chitin base. Not sure as this reading material is not for the layman.

I forgot about google scholar here are a few items google scholar turned up - they talk about chemicals which I do not know if they are organic are not and the effects they have. I would think the crab shells should work. This needs more searching.

http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/1...98A238385546B9

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=...ed=0CB0QgQMwAA

also reading this article about adding organically to rid of them I think.
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/IPM1026

then some articles it looks like you have to pay for
http://journals.cambridge.org/action...ne&aid=2557420

Here's a quote about Neptune Harvests Carb Shells

Crab Shell is high in Chitin (Kite-en), which promotes the growth of Chitin eating bacteria in the soil. The exoskeletons of fungus and nematode eggs are high in chitin. Crab Shell helps to create a hostile environment for the fungus and nematodes by feeding the biological life that eats chitin and chitin based organisms.
An added bonus of Neptune's Harvest Organic Crab Shell is it's affect on Japanese Beetle grubs. Grubs in general, have jaws made of Chitin, which is dissolved by chitinase bacteria, killing off grubs at the same time!
Since it is 100% organic, this dry fertilizer won't burn plants or roots and it has no offensive odor!

located here:
http://www.4hydroponics.com/nutrient...ptunecrabshell

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by kurt

If you have a dry spell they will look for water and are hiding from the sun also.I know birds will try them and soon find out they are not tasty(they have a built in brown type spit that repels predators).Underneath my gardenias I leave a bunch of mulch and know they are in there caus I see thier little amber yellow egg sacs.I water the area for them.If you have seen them over the years you are in good shape.If you gather a couple dozen or so move them to problem areas with their mulch habitat and they will find the aphids and start all over again.Found out once they wipe out food supply they move on to next source.I usually buy some powdered nectar that you mix with distilled water and place in areas that I think pests will be coming,then I move some Lbugs in they feed on nectar and lay a new bunch of eggs and do thier business.They do lay thier eggsacks close to pest sacs so the offspring has something to eat as they emerge.I do not use any chemical treatment at all because I feel that the chemicals kill the beneficials(insects and fungus)and upsets the balance of nature.Plus a bottle of the junk cost as much or more than a bag of ladybugs or lacewings anyway.

Good info. I let the radishes, cilantro and arugula go to seed and it brought in tons of lady bugs, plus some aphids for the lady bugs. Nastituriums are good for this, too. In the summer, I get a different type of lady bug (native to the AZ desert and Mexico), plus other beneficials plus the peas act as an aphid trap. The peas and beans tolerate some aphids so I let them be, to allow the good bugs a place to colonize and reproduce.
I still have some white flies and aphid problems but not enough to be a huge issue. Hoping the mites won't be too bad. They were still a problem in the heat of last summer.

[chancethegardener]

John, crab shells (I use Neptune's Harvest) are what I have been using in my soil mix and it will definitely be a staple for my mix in the future, too. Results with crab shells are really amazing. If you have Amazon account, you can buy them cheaper for free shipping (free shipping comes with Amazon Prime). As I said, I will sprinkle them at the plant base, as the plants get mature.

[chancethegardener]

Some more pictures regarding the TSWV problem I have been having. The virus literally took down a very healthy and productive plant, Nineveh, in less than 10 days. You can see how it affects the fruits.

I have observed some signs of the virus on my very healthy Cuostralee plant. I am not sure how clear it is in the picture but you can see the browning on the plant stem in the second picture.

Regarding the eggs of the thrips, I am also thinking that watering the plants at the base with a high debris might help so I am using different watering patterns that my nozzle allows.

[John3]

This video is pretty good

[greenthumbomaha]

Good video, and of course it has nothing to do with my living in Nebraska! We have a seasonal one hour weekly TV show , Backyard Farmer, from this extension crew at The University of Nebraska - Lincoln (the state capital.) They chronicle what is growing in their veggie garden weekly and explain how being in western Neb. is different than eastern Neb. rowing conditions. Even if you don't live in Nebraska you can watch the entire show from the BYF website : http://byf.unl.edu/ right on the front page. Pop some popcorn and enjoy!

[chancethegardener]

It is indeed a very good video. Thanks John!

[goodwin]

I'll repeat what others have said. Generally fungal problems are spread by contact, bacterial infections by cutting and viruses by insects which feed on the sap of the plant.