Cause Beet curly top virus (BCTV) is spread by the beet leafhopper and survives from year to year in perennial weed hosts. There are no known resistant varieties.
Symptoms Growth is retarded, and older leaves take on a tan-yellow color. Terminal leaves sometimes are darker than normal, and the entire plant is stunted and becomes chlorotic. If fruit is produced, it is small, of poor quality, and abnormally shaped.
Cultural control
- Partial shading and/or floating row covers discourage the leafhopper vector from moving onto plants, thus reducing the possibility of infection.
- In the Hermiston, Oregon area, plant fields away from the borders of irrigated agriculture.