By Natalie Hoidal & Marissa Schuh
More severe weather affected some farms over the last week, though the steady warmth of this week is sending solanaceous and vine crops leapfrogging ahead. We got the 30-day forecast for July from NOAA this week, calling for above average temperature and average amounts of precipitation.
Surprising pest of the season? Plant viruses
Every crop we grow has at least a few (and for some crops many) viruses that can infect them. We typically see more of these during dry, hot weather, as the insects that move viruses around are small, heat-loving pests. Why are we seeing so much of this this year? Hard to say. Data from aphid trapping efforts indicate that we've had good weather for moving aphids around. We’ve seen virus symptoms in tomatoes and vine crops, which we see some level of every year, and some crops where we see them less often, like garlic and beans.
How do you want to manage your virus infected crop? It's a decision you can make based on the severity of the infection, the value of the crop, and the risk of spread. Our two options are remove the plant to get rid of a source of future infection, or leave the crop and see what happens. We can’t spray anything or cure infected plants in any way.