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Germany

Hi all, as I have to deal with mosaic in my AG plants again this year, I was wondering if there are any negative effects of the virus on the pumpkin plants´ roots. As many of us know, the virus "lives" (not the correct expression, I´m sure, but it tells what I mean) in those parts of the plant which still undergo cell division (vine tips, baby pumpkins), and these are the points where we can see the effect of such a virus infection...the little buggers definitely disturb the new growth (mosaic patterend and sometimes deformed leaves, deformed and funny patterned fruit). Assuming that one could easily have a huge AG plant by mid August and all vines be terminated, one could guess that the virus cannot disturb that plant so much as it cannot "live and disturb" in the tissue of the fruit (which is some weeks old already) and the vines and leaves. However, there´s still alot of growth going on underground, I mean the root tips. Therefore, I´m wondering if a mosaic infection later in the season could still have much negative impact on fruit growth simply by disturbing the growth and productivity of the root tips (disturbing the performance of the plant even though we cannot see signs of mosaic infection on leaves and fruit). So, if any of the scientifically interested folks of you has come across any studies/literature which may give an answer, I would very much appreciate any hints. Thanks alot in advance.

8/26/2024 6:40:50 AM

Grittyville, WA

Interesting question. I dont have an answer, but I have a question, did you notice aphids or an insect vector, or was the infection from the soil?

[Last edit: 08/26/24 8:17:33 AM]

8/26/2024 8:17:23 AM

Germany

There were some aphids on the pumpkin plants, so I can easily blame it on them. As far as I know, there is hardly any risk of geting it from the soil into the plant. Apart from aphids, we growers ourselves are at risk of being a vector, there are many plant out there that can carry the virus and don´t exhibit any symptoms, and it may happen that we do some weeding, some pruning, some touching a flower etc. and then touching the AG plant.

8/26/2024 8:25:59 AM