It sounds like you all have it figured out and all the advice is excellent as far as I can tell. I just couldn't help but agree that it absolutely looks like clopyralid or amiopyralid damage. I had a bad bout with it 3-4 years ago when all my homemade potting soil got contaminated by well composted alpaca manure. It took over a month to figure it out and I lost a bundle of valuable crops in the process. Clopyralid based herbicides have been banned in Oregon except for use on golf courses but then Dow chemical just comes out with Milestone which is amiopyralid instead. It's the same exact problem just with another chemical. To the OP, i'm afraid there really isn't anything you can do for the plants. If the cause is the manure, at least you're not contaminated forever. In the soil the chemicals do break down in a few months. But if left above ground the herbicide can last for years and damage sensitive plants (mostly tomato, potato, legumes) at tiny amounts (parts per million). Oh, I looked into a soil test for herbicide and it was extremely expensive. It's not an average soil test. Seeding some beans or peas is an excellent idea to determine if there's residue. -Mark This post was edited by madroneb on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 23:20

Hey gg24, I have to agree with Al and Mike. They both have never given bad advice. I am 32 years old. i have been growing tropicals since I was a teenager. I kind of just thru my self in and all i can say is I really developed a passion frow growing these citrus trees. I have read some really good books and just studied up on it. It amazes and frustrates me that these trees are so particular about there needs. You are definetly in good hands here! I want to direct this next comment to Tomcitrus, since I have been coming to this forum, I have recieved nothing but encouragment and good sound advice. There were times when I had my doubts but sometimes you just have to open yours ears and listen. My trees have done nothing but flourih. Mike has shown me pictures every time he has tired something new. When him and Al have learned a new technique or they have tried a new fertilizer, they come here and tell every one here just for the purpose of helping our knowledge grow and grow. The only satis faction they get, is not with there selves but with us US people who come here to share and learn. Not to put anyone down or try and deliberately be malicious and hurtfull. I am not here to judge you, but to just let you know that us members are a great bunch of people. We all are respectfull and helpfull as a hole. We all inspire us and encourage us. We also come here and proudly post our pictures. All I am asking for is that you try and redirect your negative opinions to something else. Not here! It really has hurt, and most of all offended most of us. Some people don't want to speak up, but I will let you know that this place should be a positive place! Andrew

Old topic but wanted to share my input. I'm growing hydroponic tomatoes (various strains) at university in a lab setting (indoors under HID lights) and outdoors in a greenhouse. In one of my greenhouse NFT systems, i recently had a similar problem on 1 tomato plant (total 9 plants that share the same res and tubes). But im gonna try to diagnose your issue by mentioning what others missed out on. 1 major cause of leaf curl is compaction of root system (i.e. roots are compressed or dont have enough space to expand). This risk is exacerbated in hydroponic systems that use tubes. This was the problem i had and had to replace tubes with square tubings that have a liftable top. Once you have access to roots, you must seperate them strand by strand (i.e. so they arent sticking together). In your setup, this risk will further be exacerbated because you filled the entire pvc tube with hydroton (right?). Remove hydroton from tube and place the plant in a net cup with hydroton. Nitrogen burns usually cause browning/yellowing of leaves (similar to sun/heat burn) and not purpling. Test your solution for each chemical if possible, or use a commonly employed aggregated measuring device that shows total concentration in ppm (dont let it exceed 2500). In my system, only one plant was affected. Coincidentally, it was the largest of all plants with the most root mass. I let another normal one grow to its size to see whether it would undergo the same problem, and it did. Viral and bacterial infections that cause leaf roll usually cause it to roll up. Same with the physiological roll. If your leafs roll down AND if your stems bend, this is caused by a diminishing turgor pressure (read: not enough water reaching afflicted area). Mist several times when lights are off (no photosysnthesis) and observe increasing turgor pressure (unbending). Or, untangle roots and remove hydroton from from pipes. I tested various growing methods including fully and partially submerged roots. They all work but a submerged root cannot intake oxygen; it has to borrow oxygen from another part of the plant (i.e. a root part that isnt submerged or above ground stem). This requires energy for transportion and isnt the most efficient (optimal) way for growth and cellular processes. Lastly, an airstone in the reservoir is useless unless the reservoir is completely airtight all the way up to the plant holes. Better to keep small airstones in the pipes right under the plant roots. Those that say aerating the res prevents bacterial development.. is false. If you dont have air in res, you will get anaerobic bacteria (they grow/accumulate slowly but acidify the solution); if you have air in res, you get aerobic bacteria (not acidifying but grow extremely fast). Most bacteria prefer aerobic environments for optimum growth.

Yeah, it's a jungle in there ;-) Do what Dave said, if your suckers (lateral branches) are that long it's going to shock the plant(s) to cut them off now, just take the small ones that are appearing now, also any branches that just have leaves (no flowers/fruit trusses), cut halfway back. If still tangled, you can start on the older suckers but I think it's best just to keep up with the young small ones. As far as squash goes, same thing, just cut a few leaves off (though it does leave open stems) once in a while, be careful not to cut the main stem (thicker) of the plant that the leaf stems come off of.