Tobacco, peanut, tomato, pepper, potato, eggplant, lettuce, endive, celery, bean, cowpea, spinach, cucumber, cauliflower, and many more
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is from the tospoviruses genus and is common worldwide due to the spread of its main vector, the western flower thrips. The infection results in spotting and wilting of the infected crop, reduced yield, and in a later stage, it will lead to the death of the plant. Early symptoms show on the stems and leaves, while symptoms upon fruits appear at a later stage. Foliage and stems: the appearance of circular stains of about 5.0 cm in diameter and quickly become necrosis. Fruits: round halo-like and sometimes spiral spots. When the plant is fully infected then the leaves have all over chlorosis with formations of necrotic spots and delayed development.
The virus is transmitted by thrips (mainly the western flowers thrips), and it is not seed-borne. There are a large number of hosts, such as weeds, that allow the virus to remain present even after the contaminated crop was harvested. This can cause the weeds to contaminate crops the following season and makes disease control difficult.
There are no treatment for viruses. Infected plants with tomato spotted wilt virus should be removed from the field and destroyed as soon as possible. Since the virus might have already spread before the symptoms appeared, focus should be on prevention and usage of resistant varieties.
Grow Inside Structures: keep the structure closed and the nets free of holes.
Get rid of weeds, use pests monitoring techniques and traps, and cover the ground with a reflective black-silver cover.
It’s hard to manage thrips effectively with insecticides. They have high maneuverability skills and their egg and pupa stages are protected. Another common issue that reduces effectiveness of treatments is inadequate coverage when spraying insecticides as it difficult to spray all the areas.
Try to avoid using organophosphate, carbamates, or pyrethroids insecticides; they will effectively eliminate natural enemies and pollinators, while leaving most of the thrips population intact and unharmed.
Spinosad-based products are not cheap, but possibly the best insecticides available today to combat thrips. Spinosad-based insecticides are fermented products of a naturally occurring bacterium and certain formulations are organically acceptable. Keep in mind that combining horticultural oil with each spray application is essential and will increase overall effectiveness.
A successful commercially available natural enemies of thrips are of the genus Orius (“minute pirate bug”), omnivorous bugs in the Anthocoridae family.
*Names marked in red are considered to be highly poisonous to beneficial insects.
*Names marked in green are considered to be organic and IPM (integrated pest management) compatible.