Plants also get viruses and now a new virus is infecting our tomatoes and peppers.

By Lars Lund

 

 

You may have read in the press in recent weeks, that the Greenhouse Forum would like to help to spread the word. The world is affected by viruses. It is not news that plants can get viruses, but now a new virus is infecting tomatoes all over the world. The virus is called tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) and is enormously contagious between plants. It has catastrophic consequences for the horticulture. Therefore, you must keep an eye on your tomatoes.

The infection was first discovered in Israel in 2014 and has since been discovered in the United Kingdom, where it has spread to other European countries. The latest infected plants come from Dutch seeds. If the plant is attacked, it loses all its taste qualities and becomes inedible, even though it is harmless to eat it. In addition to tomatoes, the virus can also attack peppers and chillies.

Here are the symptoms you should keep an eye on:

• The leaves change colour, get spots, marks and become wrinkled
• Small, black spots appear on the leaf stalk
• The fruits typically turn yellow, get brown spots or green stripes
• The fruits can become deformed, wrinkled and have uneven ripening

The picture shows an attack on the fruit. Try googling ToBRFV to see more pictures.

Photo: Creativecommons.com