Zucchini Yellow Mosaic

Warty zucchinis with skinny leaves may mean the zucchini yellow mosaic virus has infected your plants.

Fruit distorted by zucchini yellow mosaic (Rasbak) CC BY-SA 3.0

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No garden would be complete without the versatile, fast-growing zucchini. A favorite in stir-fry, breads, and the ever popular chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini can be very productive plant, as long as it stays healthy.


Zucchini yellow mosaic symptoms

Whitened leaf veins, mottled, abnormally small leaves with alternating light and dark areas, and deformed, warty fruit are all signs of zucchini yellow mosaic. These are also symptoms of watermelon mosaic and papaya ringspot virus, two viral diseases that often occur at the same time as zucchini yellow mosaic. Watermelon mosaic infections tend to include blistered leaves, while zucchini yellow mosaic has the added symptom of leaf lobes becoming long and narrow, creating a ‘shoestring’ or ferny appearance.

Zucchini yellow mosaic on squash leaf (Public Domain)

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Zucchini yellow mosaic host plants

In addition to infecting zucchini, zucchini yellow mosaic also infects other members of the cucurbit family, including melons, squash, pumpkins, some gourds, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and watermelon. The disease is transmitted by aphids.


Zucchini yellow mosaic management

As anyone who gardens knows, controlling aphids is difficult. These pests seem to appear overnight, in huge numbers. And all it takes is one aphid to get the whole process started. Unfortunately, insecticides are rarely useful in managing zucchini yellow mosaic, because the disease has often been transmitted before you even know the aphids are there. Reflective mulches can be used to discourage aphids, just be sure to remove the reflective material before it gets too hot. Row covers can also be used to reduce access to susceptible plants.


This disease can also be spread on infected garden tools and seeds, so be sure to sanitize your tools regularly and get your seeds from a reputable source (and not that zucchini from the grocery store).


Infected plants should be destroyed and replaced with resistant cultivars.


Since this virus is only viable for a few hours within their aphid carriers, creating a physical barrier of tall, non-host plants around your cucurbits can be enough to prevent the aphids from getting to the plants while the virus is still active.