tlcmd,

There are discussions between some of us at various forums about incorporating TSWV-resistance into our favorite garden tomatoes.

So far, and as you seem to know, TSWV-resistance is available mainly in commercial market hybrids like BHN-444, BHN-640, Top Gun, and Amelia ... all determinate types ... and all with taste profiles generally described as "so so."

Your comment that Bolseno is TSWV-resistant is news to some of us. Is it claimed by the breeder or vendor as TSWV-resistant, or is this an observation in your garden?

There are several issues involved with TSWV and TSWV-resistant tomato cultivars that are being discussed relative to crossing known TSWV-resistance into currently open pollinated favorites. Any information you can provide proving TSWV-resistance heretofore unclaimed or unknown might be helpful.

Your description of the interior appearance and texture, particularly the core, of Bolseno, its leaf type, yield, flavor, etc., also would be informative.

Bill

i have grown Amelia for the past two years and it is great. it even tastes pretty good if you let it get ripe on the vine. and though it is determinate, it will yield all season if you feed it enough. the interior looks like a beefsteak - small seed pockets and plenty of meat. it doesnt have the "three chambered" look of most hybrids. it does best when it is pruned to two main stems. it is also very vigorous and early.

In my area these TSWV varieties are the ONLY way to get any yield. Five years ago, before southwest flower thrip invasion, growing tomatoes was easy. IN MY CASE even early girl or celebrity has become little or no-yield varieties. (sad)

The only viable remedy has been BHN 444 and BHN 640 which I have been getting at Tomato Growers supply. I received some TOP GUN seeds from Twilley seed and these are promoted as the best variety to date tolerant of TSWV. We shall see! The BHN 444's will put one back into Salsa and tomato canning.
Harvest them ripe and they still beat the grocers. The Top Gun tomato is supposed to taste a little better. Has anyone tried these?

garyjoe,

I've only had TSWV confirmed on one plant, and that was in 2006. I suspect the thrips came from some marigolds planted with my peppers, but I don't know for sure. S.W. Indiana hasn't been hit by TSWV yet, but some areas not far to the southeast of us have. Now, I'm getting interested in TSWV-resistant varieties, even if only "intermediate resistance" is noted.

Have you seen the 2008 Totally Tomatoes catalog yet? They have an Italian tomato produced by Harris Moran called Sophya that looks really interesting ... intermediate rather than the typical determinate, and supposedly with old fashioned flavor from heritage parent lines. TT also is offering something called Talledaga with TSWV resistance. Both tomatoes are show in the "new products" section in the first few pages of the 2008 catalog.

I plan to try Sophya, Amelia and something called Mountain Glory this summer to see how they grow and taste. A fellow from Rogers/Syngenta sent me seeds for the Mountain Glory, which is Mountain Spring plus TSWV resistance. If you'd like to try it, send me an email at tomatohead48@hotmail.com because Rogers/Syngenta fellow would like to get his variety out into TSWV-affected areas for trials by home and market gardeners.

Bill

Disclaimer: I have no professional, business or investment connection whatever with Totally Tomatoes, Rogers/Syngenta, or any other seed vendor, and do not sell seed or profit from the sale of seed in any way.

Bill,

I have emailed you and was wondering about the Mountain Glory variety for trial? I may need the hot-set gene as the temperature here can be hot here in the Texas panhandle.
Over the last couple of years the only thing going is the Spot Wilt tolerant varieties.

Two years ago I planted 14 varieties in a 60'X40' plot and 99% of the tomato plants (heirlooms and hybrids) were devastated by the TSWV. ONLY until last year did I plant the BHN444 & BHN640 and they were prolific compared to the other 5 not of the tswv tolerant typed.

Case and point is that if you don't plant plants,at least here, that are TSWV resistant then NO tomatoes. This little bug has dealt a lot of tomato growers great grief and aggravation! So thanks to all that have been working on this disease problem.

Garyjoe

Garyjoe was wondering where in the TX Panhandle you live. I'm in extreme SW KS. Not far from the northern panhandle and had the first real trouble with TSWV this last summer. I've received several opinions why. Most of what I lost were next to rows of onions I planted. I've been told onions are a host to thrips and not a good idea to plant next to them. The rows I had a ways away I lost only one or two but over 50% of the rows next to the onions. So something new to learn and worry about. Will be interested in your experience and hopefully it won't get any worse here. Jay

TSWV Symptoms and Transmission:
*leaf bronzing w/ small dark spots
*leaf curling and distortion
*poor (or no) fruit set
*plant stunting
*brown raised spots on green fruit
*yellow rings on ripe fruit
*die-back of growing tips irregular ripening of fruit

Insects transmitting TSWV:
*western flower thrips (most common vector)
*yellow flower thrips
*onion thrips
*tobacco thrips
*up to six other thrips species (rare)

Thrips Life Cycle (TSWV Disease Cycle):
*females lay eggs in tender tissues (underside of leaves or flower buds) 100 - 300 eggs during adult lifetime
*larvae feed on diseased plant - TSWV ACQUIRED
*only 15 minutes of feeding required to acquire disease
Note: Larvae CANNOT transmit TSWV
*mature larvae drop-off plants and pupate in soil and plant litter
*winged adults emerge and feed on healthy plants - TSWV TRANSMITTED
Note: No adult thrips-to-egg transmission

Other notes:
*adult thrips survive and can spread TSWV for up to 45 days
*6 - 15 life cycles are completed in a season (varies with temperature):
*at 90 F, one cycle every 14 days
*at 50 F, one every 44 days

Flower thrips can spread two closely related tospoviruses: *impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV)
*tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV)

TSWV is primarily of concern for field production of tomatoes, peppers and peanuts.

INSV is of primary concern to greenhouse growers.

The tospoviruses have one of the widest host ranges of any known virus. Over 600 plant species in 62 families are confirmed hosts. Significant losses have occurred for growers of cineraria, ranunculus, impatiens, New Guinea impatiens, cyclamen, exacum, begonia, primula and gloxinia. Almost all greenhouse crops with the exception of roses and poinsettias are susceptible.

Young plants may be especially vulnerable to infection. There is no cure for this virus. As soon as INSV/TSWV is detected, rogueing of infected plant material must be combined with strict thrips management to prevent serious losses.
Source

There are Web sites listing specific host plant species. The lists are very long. Cornell's Web site was down when I tried to access it just now. It has a long list of flowers and wild plants that host thrips carrying TSWV.

While removing or rejecting host plants seems to minimize the risk, the only defense seems to be planting TSWV-resistant cultivars since thrips are known to blow in on the wind or be extant on your neighbor's bedding plants. A thrip can infect a tomato plant with TSWV in its saliva before an insecticide kills the thrip.

While searching tomato forums last year I discovered that Bolseno F1 from Johnny's Selected Seeds was TSWV resistant. In the on-line catalog it only appears under "diseases explained". This is not generic, but specific to the variety described.

Last year I really worked at preventing TSWV; kept the surrounding area well clear of brush, debris, and well mowed; fertilized, weeded, and mulched regularly, and applied Triazicide once a month. Of 22 plants, 4 were Bolseno, 4 BHN 444, 4 Parks Beefy Boys, and 9 were Parks Whoppers (my perineal favourite). They were in adjacent rows 3 feet apart with the plants in each row 3 -4 feet apart in cages made of 5' cement wire. Plants were grown from seed started in late February 07 in Parks Grow Mix in 2 adjacent flats on my mother-in-laws sun porch with a heat mat and grow light. Transplanted in mid May. Started getting tomatoes in early July with huge production in mid-August from big beautiful plants of all 4 varieties. By early September both Parks varieties showed signs of TSWV but were not removed from the garden (just to be sure the TSWV varieties were resistant). By the end of October, virtually all of the Parks tomatoes were infected and no longer producing. Both Bolseno and BHN 444 remained disease free and produced until the 2nd week in November when we had our first hard frost. I will admit that the non-resistant plants had a better flavor than the TSWV resistant ones, but it really took a fruit by fruit side by side comparison for my wife and I to determine the taste difference. And we'd both be very happy with the resistant varieties flavour eaten with a salt shaker in the garden, in sandwiches, salads, cooked, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bolseno

The Johnny's Selected Seeds Catalog came today. In the printed catalog, Bolseno is definitely listed as an indetermionate TSWV resistant variety.

Thanks,
tlcmd

Bill,

I got the Mountain glory seeds today and am going to give them a try here in southwestern flower thrip territory. If they will grow here they should grow anywhere. Will be posting on the results, thanx again.-- Gary

BUMP---------starting seeds soon, mostly the tswv type.
BHN 444, BHN 640, Top Gun, Mountain Glory and Stupice which is not tswv tolerant.

BUMP!

Bill,

The Mountain Glory's are fixing to get the TSWV test. I am fixing to plant 5 varieties and see how they hold up, again thanks for the seeds.-Gary

Gary,

Great! Good to hear from you too.

The Mountain Glory look pretty good here. Nice healthy, robust plants ... just went into the ground a week ago.

But I gotta tell you, the most bodaceous TSWV-resistant variety so far is Bolseno, an indeterminate Italian type that D. Jones sent me from Alabama. He got the seeds from Johnny's, and those plants are beyond any doubt the most awesome, healthy, vigorous tomato vines I have ever grown. So far, they are twice the plant of any other varieties started this year. Hope they stand up to the summer as well as they started the spring.

Bill

I don't know if this is any help I don't know alot about Tomato virus but WV University developed the WV 63 Tomato to be resistant to many virus forms this tomato has not been grown much out of the Appalachian region. you can find it on the net if you google WV 63 Tomato or at this site http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/farmman2/organic/index.htm
or drop me an email and I will send the PDF file on it

Has anybody heard of a TSWV named "Amerilus" or something close to that? I'm not sure of the spelling. A friend said she got some plants a couple of years ago from around Tifton, GA but could not locate any plants this year. Also, "Ruskin" is a variety grown in FL that is supposed to be excellent. Any help finding these varieties would be appreciated.

Plantman,

Do you think it was maybe "Amelia?"

I grew 7 plants of Top Gun this summer and found it superior to Amelia in growth habit, fruit size, interior quality and taste. Twilley seeds sells Top Gun (and Amelia, I think). Top Gun is a very stumpy determinate that loads up with large, red globes with heavy interior walls and a "beefsteak" seed cell arrangement.

A TSWV-resistant indeterminate that totally amazed me this summer is Bolseno. That tomato from the very start was the most rampant plant in the trial garden. It ended up setting a huge load of medium size (baseball and smaller) flattened red globes, breaking down an 2 x 2 oak stake that I drove in early, tumbling a 5-foot wire cage I built around it when I realized I couldn't restrain it to a stake, sprawling across the ground and all it's neighbors, and producing an continuous yield of ten or more tart red canners day after day. I'll bet I've picked well over a hundred tomatoes off that single plant ... and no disease evident other than some minor black spotting that never defoliated the plant or infected the fruit. Unbelievable hybrid from Johnny's Selected Seed.

While I didn't have the best luck with Mountain Glory (TSWV-res. version of Mountain Spring), I'm getting positive reports from a fellow whom I sent seeds to in Texas. He says he got up to 50 large tomatoes per plant and they were tasty. He also said his mother who lives nearby had great luck with it in her garden. Rogers/Syngento distributes Mountain Glory, a Randy Gardner/NCSU development.

Can't report on Sophya and Amelia as they were failures in my 2008 trial garden.

Bill

Hoosiercherokee,
No, its not "Amelia" that I was referring to. I'm quite familiar with it. Somebody told me about this other one ("Amerilus?")and the "Ruskin" and said they both were excellent across the board varieties. I would love to find out more about these.

Hi:

I am delighted to have found this forum.This is my first post. Our church has a large (30,000 sq ft under irrigation) market garden for fund raising. We also have a large, walk-in cold box for storage (donated by the local Subway) We give the produce away in the WalMart parking lot with a can for voluntary donations. We are in Woodville, TX and our church is Hillister Baptist. We have an undeveloped website at gardenersforjesus.org. My name is Jack Ellis.

I am the tomato man. This year, for the first time, our crop was afflicted with TSWV. We salvaged 75% of it, but next year will be worse and I have to switch to a resistant variety. I am agonizing between Crista, BHN 444 and Quincy. Amelia and the indeterminant ?Bolseno? are new to me. For our purposes, a determinant bush-type might be better than the Gurney Girl Hybrid we have grown for years.

Someone said above that the flavor loss is acceptable - Justcountryfolks from nearby Louisiana has grown Crista and others have grown BHN 444. I have to decide between these varieties for next year. Right now I have 300 Sure Fire plants in for fall harvest and they seem okay so far.

These seeds appear to be available only in large quantities. Can we freeze them for the following year? Also, how should I stagger the bush-types to get a continual harvest - two weeks apart? I am using this slow time to figure all this out for next year.

So whaddya'all think?

Love and Prayers, Jack

As a new member, I have one additional question --- this isn't an "organic only" forum, is it? I hope not, because I don't fit-in with those folks. :). Been there done that!!

J

> this isn't an "organic only" forum, is it?

No. All kinds are welcome. You will get opinions from *all* sorts.

Results for the BHN's, Mountain Glory and Top Gun for 2008 after a delayed start. The first two weeks of June was abnormally hot and held back fruit setting but still the production was good.
BHN,s still outproduced the others although not the most flavorful.

Mountain Glory was next as far a good in taste and production, then I would rate the Top Gun's as the best in flavor, quality but not as productive.

Bill, thank you for the Mountain Glory seeds and my mother really liked the flavor so I will grow them again. Next season I am going to try some of those Bolzeno tomatoes since you think they are a good tomato. Are they a good fresh eating or better canner or salsa tomato?

The non tswv tomatoes along with the blue petunia's planted as monitors still showing the virus still present, guess its here for good.

A lot of people seem to be discounting the TSWV varieties, but with the shelf life holding ability and the fact that flavor is getting better and better I feel that they are actually better tomatoes!

I have made 26 pints of hot sauce, canned 25 Quarts, ate them fresh 2&3 meals a day and gave some to neighbors. The neighbors are asking for plants next season. Next season my list is Top Gun, Mountain Glory, Bhn444, and Bolzeno with Stupice as an early.

Garyjoe

Make that 46 pints, they seem to keep coming. They are just about done and resistance is waning, but still getting a few red ones. Going with the same varieties next season and adding Bella Rosa as a tryout and they can be found at Twilley seeds.

BUMP!

Just a heads up re BHN444, this is a small to medium sized round tomato with an abnormally large green core. I won't grow it for that simple reason. For TSWV tolerance, I grow Amelia, Bolseno, and BHN640 in that order of preference.

Amelia is determinate, Bolseno is indeterminate.

DarJones

GaryJoe,

I'm glad you found Mountain Glory to your satisfaction. If you cannot find seeds for sale next spring, let me know, as I still have a couple hundred left.

I thought Top Gun was good, too. It made quite large, heavy toamtoes with a good flavor ... somewhat tart compared to other typical modern hybrids. Very determinate and short.

Bolseno ... talk about tart! Now there's a tart baseball size canner for you. And extremely productive on a rampant indeterminate vine.

Hey, check out Sophya too. Another TSWV-res. indeterminate Italian type like Bolseno, but with much larger fruit and much heavier, denser interior walls. Nice 5-locule slicer. Decent flavor and very productive. I noticed it didn't like cool wet weather, doing the extreme leaf curl thing in response to early summer monsoon season and cool nights. But one vine I held back and topped off, shot out new shoots and sprawled all over the place producing many many trusses of 3 or 4 heavy tomatoes larger than baseballs with very dark green shoulders turning crimson at full ripe with a hint of remaining green like so many Italian types.

Bill

Bill,

I have already received Bolzena's and Bella Rosa's for February. I still have seeds left from what you sent me. The Mountain Glory did well here and I am still eating good garden tomatoes. The shelf life is great on these TSWV tolerant tomatoes! And they still beat the ones out of the store by a mile.

Garyjoe

Thanks for sharing advice, comments, and experiences. I'm still trying to choose which tswv resistant varieties as I only have space and cages for 28 tomato plants in my 1400 sq ft garden and need to allow room for other veggies and companion plants.

I recently received a "Totally Tomatoes" catalog which also listed yet another TSWV resistant determinate variety: Capaya.

Anyone have knowledge or experience with this variety??

Thanks,
tlcmd

Here is a link that might be useful: Capaya Tomato

Does anyone know if TSWV can be treated , and does it re-occur annualy ? Also, does it only affect plants, or does this also infect the soil. I have had good luck with Bela Rosa, and BHN 444. Tried Sophya last year, and was pleased with the flavor, but not so much with the yield. Any info would be greatly appreciated.