Mosaic Virus in Gourds: Growing a Healthy Gourd Crop

Mosaic virus is also known as tobacco mosaic virus. When you get mosaic virus in gourds or any other plant for that matter, it makes the leaves spotty with different shades of green and yellows - hence the term mosaic. Mosaic virus is a communicable plant disease that can spread from one plant to another, it is most commonly found in tobacco, and if you smoke cigarettes in and around your garden, you can actually spread mosaic virus to your gourds if the tobacco contains any mosaic virus in it.

Detecting mosaic virus is difficult. With a gourd vine, you can test it by breaking off a lateral, (far enough out that you are not effecting your crop), then hold the two pieces back together for 15 seconds or so, then slowly pull apart the two pieces. If you see a stringy line like slime connecting the two, kind of like pulling your chewing gum, then you may have mosaic virus in your gourds. This is not a definitive test, but I believe if you do not get the stringy slime, then you are 95% out of the woods, in other words it is not likely what you are seeing is mosaic.

Most often when you begin seeing this color blotching on the leaves, it is due to something else, nutrient deficiencies, insect damage, damage caused by Sevin looks very much like mosaic, and even during the end of the season gourd vines begin to look like Mosaic virus as they begin to turn their energy and nutrients into the hardening of the gourds.

The best defense against mosaic virus is growing healthy plants and a healthy garden.

If at all possible, control insect pest problems with natural control techniques as opposed to using insecticides and poisons.

Use natural or green fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. not only are they better balanced, they cannot burn your plants and many contain micro nutrients and enzymes which plants need that are not in chemical fertilizers. Our favorite source of fertilizer for gourds is fish Emulsion, and if you can find a fish emulsion/kelp mix, this is even better. More on this in another article.

Mosaic virus is spread by hand, by tools, and by insect, so if you have mosaic virus in your garden, clean all your tools with bleach and do not plant anything that is susceptible to mosaic virus for at least 2 years. There are no cures or treatments for mosaic virus, the best remedy is not to get it to begin with.

Plant hosts for the virus include but are not limited to: Tomatoes, peppers, Cucurbits, (cucumbers, squash, watermelon, etc.), spinach, tobacco, flowers such as snapdragons, marigolds, nightshade and many others, and herbs and weeds. Because Mosaic Virus in gourds is transported by insect bite, tools, and handling, the most common cases of garden mosaic virus are in gardens where seedling beds are transplanted into the garden, and among gardens that have plants that are handled frequently.

If you would like to learn more about growing gourds, please visit The Gourd Reserve, with over 800 pages of gourd related information and artwork, or you can read more articles on gourds right here on here on my AC producer page.