Tobacco Mosaic

[TyrieSmith]

It would appear there we had some pepper seeds infected with tobacco mosaic. We ordered the following varieties:

Aurora
Aji Crystal
Georgia Flame
Traveler Jalapeño
Chocolate Bell
Purple Beauty
Mini Bull Nose Bell

The are ALL infected now. Did anyone else run into this with any of your seeds? There is time enough to start the process again, but I wanted to see if I could narrow down the culprit.

In the interest of full disclosure, I also planted tomatoes and eggplants (several varieties of each) in the same kind of germination soil and have seen NO traces of the virus in those plants. It's really weird.

[THE V]

Standard Pepper and tomato seed disinfection for TMV is a 10% solution of TSP for 15 minutes with agitation. You can do this if you want to save the seeds.

Did you have TMV last season? This pathogen can infect many different species. Some asymptomatically. This virus is transmitted mechanically very easily. It is can be transmitted by thrips. So it could have been only one of the varieties that was infected but it was quickly spread to the other lines.

[Laura-SSE]

Greetings TyrieSmith!

First, “Thank You” for purchasing your seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. We value your feedback as a customer and appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

When we saw your post, we immediately pulled seed samples of the varieties you listed, and had them tested for TMV. The results came back Negative, ie no presence of TMV. This was kind of a sigh of relief, but also a challenge to find out what is really happening with your peppers. If your plants are confirmed to be infected with TMV, the source could be coming from a number of possibilities:
· Did someone come into contact with the plants who uses tobacco products?
· Is there susceptible plant residue in the soil where you planted the peppers?
· Are garden tools and hands sanitized with sufficient frequency to prevent the spread of the virus?

We have all of our stock seed plots inspected for disease each year, and so far none of the pepper plants have tested positive for TMV. One of the recent precautions we have taken is to prohibit the use of tobacco products on the entire farm. Beyond that we do regular field inspections both in-house and by third party inspectors, regular testing of suspicious plant material, and considerable sanitation of hand tools, equipment, and materials.

The University of Minnesota has a page which details symptoms, causes, and (treatment) “http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...68.html”. However, the best treatment of course is preventions, as it is not possible to rid a plant of TMV once it has become infected.

[TyrieSmith]

Originally posted by Laura-SSE:

Greetings TyrieSmith!

First, “Thank You” for purchasing your seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. We value your feedback as a customer and appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

When we saw your post, we immediately pulled seed samples of the varieties you listed, and had them tested for TMV. The results came back Negative, ie no presence of TMV. This was kind of a sigh of relief, but also a challenge to find out what is really happening with your peppers. If your plants are confirmed to be infected with TMV, the source could be coming from a number of possibilities:
· Did someone come into contact with the plants who uses tobacco products?
· Is there susceptible plant residue in the soil where you planted the peppers?
· Are garden tools and hands sanitized with sufficient frequency to prevent the spread of the virus?

We have all of our stock seed plots inspected for disease each year, and so far none of the pepper plants have tested positive for TMV. One of the recent precautions we have taken is to prohibit the use of tobacco products on the entire farm. Beyond that we do regular field inspections both in-house and by third party inspectors, regular testing of suspicious plant material, and considerable sanitation of hand tools, equipment, and materials.

The University of Minnesota has a page which details symptoms, causes, and (treatment) “http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...e/dg1168.html”. However, the best treatment of course is preventions, as it is not possible to rid a plant of TMV once it has become infected.

A lot of folks came in contact with the plants, so the chance of a tobacco user not washing up before touching is pretty good. I know heirlooms are more susceptible to these kinds of things, so I am guessing that is the case. Glad to hear that there were no issues in your seeds. Thank you for the reply. We will be more careful over here in the future.

[DanaM]

Laura the link you posted doesn't bring up the file?