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Re: No Tomatoes in 1998?

Hi all,

Enjoyed Robert Beers' posting re Tomato Spotted Wilt:

> USDA TO BAN CERTAIN PLANTS PROVEN TO BE VIRUS VECTORS

Good one Bob!

>The virus can
> remain active in the soil for several years, so crop rotation is
> insufficient to destroy it.  The current method is to sterilize the soil
> with a deep steam treatment, which though effective, is expensive, as it
> needs to be repeated due to repeated re-infections from home gardeners
> crops.  

Here in Australia Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus is spread by Thrips tabaci -
onion thrips.  The disease is not carried in the soil or seed and is not
spread
during pruning.  The source of infection is infested crops, especially
weeds
near the crop.
> 
> There is concern that many people will ignore the rulings and plant
> tomatoes using saved seed or left-over seed from past years.  Because of
> this, the U.S.D.A. has received several million in federal funding to
> train dogs to recognize the odor of tomato plants. 

 Will those tomato sniffing hounds also be able to detect weeds in our
gardens?  That will make gardening tough!

Cheers,

Mary
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