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Like all other plant disease, leaf
curling is also one kind seen in a wide
variety of flowering plants. In particular,
some of the fruit bearing plants with prominent
occurring of leaf curl includes tomato plants
and peach tree. Further considering tomato
plant, in particular, it belongs to nightshade
family, which is a distinct category of
plant infected by leaf curling disorder.
Generally leaf curls are due to the virus,
and sometimes it is also said that intense
sunlight heat can cause curls in weaker
plants.
Recent research reveals that Tomato leaves
are attacked due to a virus that is spread
by whiteflies from the infected plants.
Whiteflies are commonly seen in tropical
as well in sub-tropical areas and occasionally
in greenhouse of temperate regions. They
feed on leaves which will be the factor
for transferring virus from an infected
plant to an uninfected plant. It takes about
half a month for the plants to show up the
symptoms of the disease after infection.
Some of the symptoms observed were stunt
growth of plant, contraction in the size
of leaves, yellow lining in curled leaves,
shrinking of flowers, affects the fruit
bearing potency of the plant and thus inhibits
its yield later stage. Settling of whiteflies
at the lower surface of leaves during night
time can spread the disease to other parts
and to the adjacent plants as well. This
disease varies with the location and not
with the seasons. Some weeds grown in the
field are the other factor for spread of
the disease.
Gardeners and farmers are unaware about
the spread of the disease,
and thus they are left without the exact
treatment
method. They face huge loss in harvest season
because of this mess as the progress of
the disease is rapid at that time.
Controlling of leaf curl virus:
- If it is a garden growing tomato plants,
then necessary insect proofing finer mesh
nets should be provided around the garden,
whereas in fields it is impossible for
netting, so alternate solution will be
the spraying of effective insecticide.
- Transplanting of tomato plant from the
greenhouse to the field should be done
after a mature period of about 30 to 45
days since whiteflies targets young plants,
mainly for their feed.
- Ample space should be provided between
the rows of plants so that overlapping,
which is one of the reasons for spreading
of disease can be controlled.
- Instead of using synthetic insecticides,
organic oil spray like neem oil spray
can be used for efficient insect repelling.
Most of the farmers in US adopt Neem
oil spray in their fields not only for
this particular insect spreading this disease
but also for exterminating all insects that
cause various other diseases.
Author: Adam Teaser - neem
articles
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