What Does Cucumber Mosaic Virus Look Like?
Your beloved plants may have mosaic virus if they have stunted growth, distorted leaves, crinkled leaves, a smeared pattern in green, yellow, or white pattern, or ringed spots on leaves that resemble a mosaic. In some cases the virus can affect the fruit as well. Tomatoes for example can be small or misshapen.
Some plants that are commonly affected by cucumber mosaic virus include cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and cauliflower.
How does Cucumber Mosaic Virus Spread?
Cucumber Mosaic Virus spreads through aphids that bring the virus from other affected plants. It can also spread through affected seeds, so make sure you do not save seeds from affected plants in order to avoid planting virus infected plants next season. In some cases the virus can also spread through pollen of affected flowers.
How to Control Cucumber Mosaic Virus
There is unfortunately no cure for cucumber mosaic virus. Once your plants are infected, there's no way to rid them of the virus completely. The good news is that the virus does not kill your plants immediately, but it sadly can shorten your plant’s lifespan.
Even though there is no solution for cucumber mosaic virus once the plant is affected, one preventive measure is to control aphids in your garden. If you can eliminate aphids, you can eliminate the primary source that spreads disease.
Once aphids are eliminated, another more drastic measure is to remove affected plants. If aphis come back, they cannot bite the affected plants and continue spreading the disease to your surviving plants.