athena_wilder
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Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:03 pm
Location: Georgia

Mosaic Virus & Affect on Soil?

Can anyone give me any insight to the mosaic viruses that affect green beans? I've researched it and have concluded that it is spread by insects, primarily through open wounds on the plants, and that all crops affected must be removed and destroyed to prevent over-wintering on plant debris. (Please correct me if any of this is wrong!)

We had some infected plants, which my brother just went out to pull and destroy. But he expressed concern about the soil. Can the mosaic virus infect the soil? If so, what needs to be done to insure that next year's crop is not affected by this year's outbreak?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Not one that I have had to deal with. My impression from reading is that you are right about the mode of transmission and that it does not live in the soil. But it can live in living or dead plant tissue, even for many years. So you would need to clean up all traces of infected plants, including the roots.

athena_wilder
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Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:03 pm
Location: Georgia

Thanks for the reply! I figured that since it wasn't a soil-borne virus, it should be okay as long as we clean the area out thoroughly, but I really just wanted to make sure someone else was on the same page as me. Thanks again :)



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