discoloration on leaves? - Ask Extension
Is the discoloration a concern on my eggplant plant leaves? What is it? Do I ignore, cut off the leaves and harvest fruit produced later in season, o...
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discoloration on leaves? #874462
Asked June 24, 2024, 2:53 PM EDT
Is the discoloration a concern on my eggplant plant leaves? What is it? Do I ignore, cut off the leaves and harvest fruit produced later in season, or need to throw away the entire plant?
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
We're not certain what caused this unique discoloration, as we have not encountered it before (or at least recently, in home gardens). It does somewhat resemble the symptoms created by an infection of Alfalfa Mosaic Virus, which a variety of plant species can contract, though it won't necessarily spread to other plants at this point if that is the agent responsible for yellowing. Not many plant pathology labs in our region can test for this virus (a specific test kit must be used to screen for it), and we do not know if it would be expensive to do so. (Labs that sell test kits, rather than testing in-house, tend to sell them in quantities home gardeners would not need.)
If you want to be cautious, it might be safest to discard the plant if you think a virus is likely. Otherwise, the symptoms do not look significant enough to affect the plant since it already looks good-sized and otherwise healthy.
You could inspect the affected foliage on the underside of the leaves, to see if anything there looks associated with the yellowing, though we aren't certain if it's coincidence or not that some chewed holes are associated with the discoloration. (Probably not related.)
Plant viruses tend to be vectored (transmitted) by certain insects, and if the insect responsible for hypothetically infecting this plant are no longer present (aphids, in this case), then the pathogen might not go anywhere. Discolored leaves, regardless of the cause in this case, do not need to be removed, and the symptomless tissues in them are still feeding the plant and supporting the ripening of fruit. If you do trim to address other issues, wipe the pruner blades off with a disinfectant (avoid bleach) just in case its sap is contaminated with a viral disease, so it doesn't get introduced to the next plants you prune with the same tool. Otherwise, you can probably keep the plant if it's doing well so far, unless symptoms worsen dramatically.
Miri
If you want to be cautious, it might be safest to discard the plant if you think a virus is likely. Otherwise, the symptoms do not look significant enough to affect the plant since it already looks good-sized and otherwise healthy.
You could inspect the affected foliage on the underside of the leaves, to see if anything there looks associated with the yellowing, though we aren't certain if it's coincidence or not that some chewed holes are associated with the discoloration. (Probably not related.)
Plant viruses tend to be vectored (transmitted) by certain insects, and if the insect responsible for hypothetically infecting this plant are no longer present (aphids, in this case), then the pathogen might not go anywhere. Discolored leaves, regardless of the cause in this case, do not need to be removed, and the symptomless tissues in them are still feeding the plant and supporting the ripening of fruit. If you do trim to address other issues, wipe the pruner blades off with a disinfectant (avoid bleach) just in case its sap is contaminated with a viral disease, so it doesn't get introduced to the next plants you prune with the same tool. Otherwise, you can probably keep the plant if it's doing well so far, unless symptoms worsen dramatically.
Miri
