Re: A permaculture challenge for a tomato virus

["Neil Barraclough" <neilb@vic.australis.com.au>]

According to the book- Tomato Diseases-  A practical Guide for Seedsmen,
Growers and Agricultural Advisors, Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus is spread
by the Sweet Potato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.  Virus of this nature are
generally spread by sap sucking insects and often have a single species of
insect involved in their spread.

I haven't been aware on TYLC and the above mentioned book doesn't list it's
distribution to include Australia, however, strategies used to reduce
problems with other virus's should also apply, these could include-

1.  Use of tolerant varieties, this is recomend in the above mentioned book
and should be one of the first approaches of organic growers if
practicable.  This approach also gives us an opportunity to increase the
understanding of the need to maintain the diversity we have to select from.

2.  Plants grown in biologically active soil with high humus levels and
adequate suplies the necessary major minerals as well as a balance of trace
minerals seem much less susceptable to attack from sap sucking insects.
Calcium may be one important mineral in producing plants with a strong cell
structure making them less attractive to these insects.

3.  With a biological diversity  there should be a lesser tendency for
buildups of populations of insects like the white flys, with better
predator numbers, however weeds in the solanaceae family could be a source
of the virus and these should be removed.

4. A way of the home gardener reducing white fly numbers could be to place
yellow sheets of plastic or similar coated with a sticky substance, the
flys are attracted to the yellow and become trapped.

Neil Barraclough


----------
> How about compost tea? It seems to work for nearly everything else...
> R
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sharon Gordon <gordonse@one.net>
> To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 3:48 PM
> Subject: A permaculture challenge for a tomato virus
> 
> 
> > In a fierce battle on the tomato growers list between the group who
> > likes to grow organically and the group who thinks the more Roundup
> > and other poisons the better, I tossed in a rational, reasoned response
> > on the advantages of permaculture and balanced gardening so that
> > food and everything else can be grown without poison.
> >
> > One of the biggest poisoners said he was willing to try it if there was
> > some way he could grow tomatoes in Florida despite the
> > TYLCV virus (Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus).  This virus can
> > easily kill all of a person's tomato plants.  It's a serious problem
> > in Florida and in Israel.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this or know
> > of Florida/Israeli permaculturists who have come up with a
> > system/design that allows them to grow tomatoes?
> >
> > Sharon
> > gordonse@one.net
> >
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