Bad news, possibly a disaster for many of my plants in the greenhouse. I identified a disease on my blue lake bush beans in the greenhouse today that required me to rip them out, not compost them, but burn them or place them in a plastic bag and dispose. Worse, the disease affects a wide range of edible crops – alfalfa, apples, beans, celery, corn, cucumbers, figs, peppers, spinach, tobacco and tomatoes are some of the more common ones. They can also infect ornamental plants like abutilon, delphinium, gladiola, marigold, petunia, and one of the most notable plants, roses. It is called Mosaic virus. I have never had to deal with it before. It actually started a few days ago when I noticed a couple of funky-looking bean leaves, but I kept forgetting to look up bean diseases/problems and/or look at infected bean plants online. Doesn't matter. Removal, destruction, cleanliness (hands, tools, clothes, etc.) and aphid control are key. Now, it's just a wait and watch to see the disease may have spread to other plants without any knowledge.
It originates in the seed, and even one infected seed can cause chaos. You cannot detect the virus by looking at the seed(s), and they can be seeds you saved or seeds you buy, even from a reputable place without their knowledge. These were purchased from True Leaf Market. TLM has a good reputation; it is not from anything they did wrong. They must plant hundreds of plants to get bean seeds. It can be a problem in home outdoor gardens as well, but it loves to spread like wildfire in a greenhouse if not caught early and remedied. I'm not sure I caught the origin early enough.
The virus is spread to the plant as the seed grows, rarely showing itself in the seedling, but at about the 6–8-week mark from planting. My beans are 7 weeks old, just beginning to flower.
Aphids go after the weakened plant. As they feed and multiply, they go to other plants and infect them with the virus. It is solely contained in the seed and plant. It does not affect the soil, and the soil can be reused. It can get on the gardener's hands, clothing, or tools, and if not washed well, these can spread the virus to other plants. So, I am very concerned about my greenhouse figs, celery, cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes, marigolds, and a few other plants, over 2/3's of what I have started in the greenhouse.
Here is what the virus looks like on infested beans at different stages:
-Leaf #1. Early stage -You can just make out some white dots towards the bottom of the leaf
-Leaf #2. Middle Stage: Leaf is becoming mottled with different shades of green.
-Leaf #3. End Stage: Leaf is beginning to die.
I do have a bunch of Contender Bush Beans started. They are intended for the food forest, but I will keep some in the greenhouse to continue my "experiment". I hope they have escaped infection. I won't know until mid to late June for these plants. So far, I don't see infection on any other plant, but I will be examining closely all the plants on a daily basis.
New contender crop:
Folks always say clean and disinfect your greenhouse at least 2x a year if growing all year. I cleaned often, but never disinfected my old greenhouse. I look back, and I wonder if the frigid winters killed off bad things? I even bought a bottle of Physun (
https://www.physan.com/uploads...) but never used it.
After building this new greenhouse last Spring, and growing in it all summer and winter, I just started new seedlings this spring as disinfecting was far away from my thoughts. That was a huge mistake! I completely forgot about disinfecting after not doing it for 7 years in my old greenhouse.
I started seeing aphids last winter. Some are still around. I see them from time to time, but I have them under better control since using insecticidal soap and growing marigolds and yellow yarrow next to vulnerable plants. I guess a bad bean seed or two got planted, the aphids decided to attack the originally infected plant, and it has now spread.
I feel very upset, annoyed, and frustrated. You all know how hard I work on my greenhouse and gardens. I just hope I haven't blown a big part of this year's bounty because of my forgetfulness about disinfecting. I can only wait and see.
On a better note, here is a picture of small broccoli sprouts I started. Broccoli sprouts are supposed to be more nutritious than the adult broccoli, and is considered a superfood like blueberries, beets, etc., all of which I eat several servings a day.
Hope you can see the small sprouts. While sprouts are kept in a shaded area, I put them on the kitchen sink windowsill for a better picture.
for all of you, Ronnie! Hope the "settling in" period goes as well as possible.
