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pests Mosaic virus or Bug damage?

Stefan_W

Stefan_W

My peppers have been a disaster so far. It starting months back when they were just starting out as seedlings. I bought some organic basil plants to use as I was waiting for my own seeds to grow, and the ones from the store ended up having white flies on them. The pepper and tomato seedlings seemed stunted after that, and I assumed it was white fly damage. I've been spraying down the plants since taking them outside, but they are really far behind and stunted, and I am no longer sure that it is just white fly damage. To top everything off, we are having a terrible start to the year and the overnight lows are still really cold (that may be the cause of the upwards leaf curl).
 
The leaves have a mosaic pattern on them, but I have never dealt with mosaic virus so I have nothing to go by except online pictures.
 
So my question is directed toward the experienced gardeners here. Does this look like one of the types of mosaic virus, or can it be a reaction to bugs such as white flies?
 
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I'm no expert, but it looks like chlorosis to me.  How much rain have you been getting and what have your temperatures been like?  Has it been getting as cool as 10ºC? I think if it was a mosaic virus of any sort there would be more necrosis at that stage.
 
ikeepfish said:
I'm no expert, but it looks like chlorosis to me.  How much rain have you been getting and what have your temperatures been like?  Has it been getting as cool as 10ºC? 
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It has been down to 10-12 almost every night, and it is still dropping to 9 once in a while.
 
I was having 50ºF nights up until about  2 weeks ago and was having the same issue on a lot of my plants.  We've also been getting a ridiculous amount of rain.  When the temps spiked I started feeding them a nitrogen heavy organic food and sprayed with some epsom salt solution, most of them seemed to start doing really well.  If you start getting serious necrosis after it warms up then yeah you might have a mosaic virus of some sort...in which case your seed supplier is in some deep water.
 
Stefan_W said:
 
It has been down to 10-12 almost every night, and it is still dropping to 9 once in a while.
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hey, im about 2 hrs from you and it has been chilly out last night it went down to 8c, probably to cold. peppers like temps around 21c /70f to 32c /90f 
and all this rain we have been getting is not helping,   can you see any bugs on them at all? 
 
magicpepper said:
hey, im about 2 hrs from you and it has been chilly out last night it went down to 8c, probably to cold. peppers like temps around 21c /70f to 32c /90f 
and all this rain we have been getting is not helping,   can you see any bugs on them at all? 
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I haven't seen any evidence of bug damage on the peppers, but there is some on a few tomato leaves. There was some bug damage at the start of the year though before I got it under control. I'd say nothing out of the usual for the past 2 or 3 weeks.
 
then id have to agree with ikeepfish, it could just be weather related. i recently got a soil moisture meter from canadian tire, cheap little thing but it helps. cost a little over 6 bucks, if you dont all ready have one you might want to check it out, i havent had to water my plants in over two weeks cause of the rain and they are still pretty moist. and they are calling for more rain this week.
 
magicpepper said:
then id have to agree with ikeepfish, it could just be weather related. i recently got a soil moisture meter from canadian tire, cheap little thing but it helps. cost a little over 6 bucks, if you dont all ready have one you might want to check it out, i havent had to water my plants in over two weeks cause of the rain and they are still pretty moist. and they are calling for more rain this week.
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I do it the old fashioned way and just put my finger in the soil. With all the rain we've been getting the most I've done in a while is just moisten the mulch a bit without actually watering them through. Plus there have been a couple of hits of fertilizer along the way which need to get in there. But yeah, there has been almost no need for watering so far this season.
 
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/focus/index.cfm?problem=chlorosis <<< Re: Chlorosis
 
I am thinking not Chlorosis, because that seems to impact the leaves in a more overall manner, instead of mottled like that. 
 
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/tomato-tmv-disease/  <<<< Mosaic Virus
 
In reading the Symptoms section on mosaic virus, it notes that the darker areas tend to be thicker, maybe blistered - do your plants' leaves have that? Keep in mind it could be a virus other than mosaic, too. 
 
I don't think it's weather-related. I do see some indication of early fertilizer burn, but that could be caused by whatever is causing the leaves to mottle, too.
 
geeme said:
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/focus/index.cfm?problem=chlorosis <<< Re: Chlorosis
 
I am thinking not Chlorosis, because that seems to impact the leaves in a more overall manner, instead of mottled like that. 
 
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/tomato-tmv-disease/  <<<< Mosaic Virus
 
In reading the Symptoms section on mosaic virus, it notes that the darker areas tend to be thicker, maybe blistered - do your plants' leaves have that? Keep in mind it could be a virus other than mosaic, too. 
 
I don't think it's weather-related. I do see some indication of early fertilizer burn, but that could be caused by whatever is causing the leaves to mottle, too.
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I was also doubtful that it was all weather related considering the extent of the damage and the fact that I have never had anything that looks like this over the course of years gardening in this climate. Having said that, it has been an unusually cold spring.
 
It is tough to say for sure if the yellowed areas are thinner, but they certainly are drier and almost crunchy. No blistering that I can see.
 
I can try laying off the fertilizer, but I am doubtful because I am not using much and these issues started before I gave them their first dose outside.

This site makes it seem as though it may be chlorosis caused by magnesium deficiency.
 
http://www.semena.org/agro/diseases4/nutrient-disorders-e.htm
 
i just looked at my plants and all seem healthy, and i have pretty much the same weather as you do, so i'm thinking it is not weather related.  just went on what ive experienced, i havent had to deal with bugs or disease's but i have had nutrient deficiency,cold weather,  raccoon's and chipmunks over the years thats about it. ive been decently lucky not to have bugs or disease on my plants
 
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