I know that this continues to be a busy time for you, our growers, so I’ll keep this brief.

Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV)

 With another detection of ToBRFV in Australia, now in the state of Victoria, it seems timely to send a reminder of good hygiene practices that all greenhouse growers should stick to:

• Only buy seeds from a reputable company
• Wear clothes and shoes dedicated to your greenhouse
• Clean your tools regularly, if possible, after each row
•  Wash and sanitise your hands before you enter your greenhouse. If possible, wear gloves that you replace regularly
•  Don’t share tools with other growers
•  Keep reusable plastic crates in your packhouse and use your own buckets, that you wash regularly inside the GH
• Restrict access to suppliers and reps. If someone does have to enter your GH, ask them to wear full PPE

These measures will help to protect your property from ToBRFV as well as other viruses

TNZ AGM date confirmed

Another date for your diaries; the TomatoesNZ AGM will be part of the HortNZ conference in Wellington 26^th (AGM date) & 27^th August. We are making sure that the line up of speakers is both appealing and useful for all growers so do look at making it to the Capital for these two dates if you can.

 Water testing

 As part of our work to prepare for ToBRFV, TNZ is asking growers to submit water samples from GH drainage. This has a double focus – we want to make sure that we get on top of ToBRFV as quickly as possible if it were to arrive in NZ. We are also taking the opportunity to survey how far Pepino Mosaic virus has spread as we prepare for how to manage this going forward. Having an idea of how many growers have been affected, will allow us to make decisions that will benefit as many growers as possible. The good thing about PepMV is that plenty of growers are already growing with it – MPI won’t shut down your property if it is found onsite and your growing operation need not change.

If you receive an email or phone call asking you to participate, please do consider it. All costs are covered by TomatoesNZ.

Spray technique workshop

Date: 20^th March at 4pm

Where: Waiuku

What: This practical workshop will cover areas that growers might need some guidance on to help maximise the use of spraying. Correct targeted spraying can be part of an IPM for effective management of pests. Incorrect spraying techniques can lead to chemical resistance and money wasted on products that don’t reach their target if the application isn’t accurate. Click here for more information and to register for this event.

Oriental Fruit Fly

 The response to the detection of one male fruit fly in Papatoetoe on 3^rd Jan is continuing with regular checking of traps in the exclusion zones. This is to ensure that no further flies emerge as a potential breeding population. If traps continue to be empty, the response will hopefully wind up mid February.

Bacterial Canker

This is a disease endemic to NZ that is a real nuisance for tomato growers. We are looking to undertake a research project into treating bacterial canker but need samples to test theories. If you think you have bacterial canker in your greenhouse, please get in touch so that this important work can be done.

Tomato Potato Psyllid

Last year we seemed to have few reports of TPP affecting our growers, which was great but we have a project running at the moment with A Lighter Touch looking into the control of TPP with beneficial insects as part of an integrated pest management system. If you have psyllid and want to be considered for this research, please get in touch.

Finally, don’t forget to keep checking the resources available on the website. For example, factsheets on diseases that are present in NZ, such as bacterial canker, are available in both English and Korean here

If there is a language you would like to see our resources translated into, or a disease you would like covered, please let me know.