2021 Curly Top Virus in Tomatoes
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2021 Curly Top Virus in Tomatoes
Landscape & Garden Treasure Valley
Beet Curly Top Virus
Posted on: August 26, 2021 by Nic Usabel
The Canyon County Master Gardener Integrated Pest Management Team recently detected a tomato plant with symptoms of curly top virus. The virus is carried by the beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus. The leafhopper takes up the virus when feeding and keeps it in its body the rest of its life. The most frequently cited hosts include Kochia, Lambsquarter, Halogeton, Russian thistle, Greasewood, and Atripex.
The symptoms on tomatoes include the rolling up and twisting sharply of the leaflets to expose the undersurface. Foliage is stiff and leathery, and the entire plant is a peculiar dull yellow. Leaflet veins are purple, and the plant is often stunted. Many roots and rootlets die, as do severely affected plants. Young plants infected with the disease are usually killed.
The sporadic nature of Beet Curly Top Virus makes it very difficult to implement practical management strategies. One of the most promising strategies is to use resistance cultivars of tomatoes. Observations have shown that plants grown in shade do not contract the virus, so shading could be a possible management strategy. Excluding the beet leaf hopper with row cover buried in the ground and placed over the tomatoes until plants can no longer be contained inside can reduce early infection. Pull and dispose of infected plant material.
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