Black Krim leaves rolling up into cylinder shape

15 years ago

Five of my Black Krim tomato plants have their leaves rolling up along the length wise axis to form a cylinder shape with the bottom of the leaves on the outside. None of the other six varieties of tomatoes I planted are doing this. Is this something to worry about, and is it a physiological problem or a disease problem? All of the plants were planted the same way in the same soil.

BTW, I previously posted about one plant from the Black Krim seeds I planted came up with potato leaves. This plant is the biggest plant I have, with huge leaves, biggest I ever saw on a tomato plant, and has three thick stems instead of the normal single main stem. I don't know if this is a mutant or an accidental cross or maybe just a seed from another variety that was accidently packaged with the Black Krim seeds. But if it turns out to be something special I am going to fulfill my fathers dream and name it after my grandmother. My father was an amateur rose breeder and said if he ever developed something special he would name it after his mother. Unfortunately he died before he developed it. The potato leaved Black Krim's leaves aren't rolling up.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

rnewste
15 years ago
Where in California are you located?

We've had tremendous temperature swings over the past 7 days in San Jose, and perhaps that is contributing to the issue. Someone on the EarthTainer thread is also seeing a few leaves rolling as you describe. Not sure of the variety in his photos.

Raybo
californian
Original Author
15 years ago
I did a little research and found leaf curl can be caused by viruses or be physiological. If physiological it is often caused by over watering or sudden temperature changes. We did have a couple of 100 degree days earlier this week followed by 60 or 70 degree days, so that is one possibility. I also switched from hand watering with a watering can to using a hose, which might have resulted in too much water being applied, especially with my clay soil. I read about half a dozen articles and they said if not caused by a virus leaf curl doesn't cause any real harm and may go away by itself as the temperature stabilizes and the over watering stops.
Related Discussions
Tomato leaves 'coiled up'?
Q
Comments (3)
Here's a message from another board, I think this guy has it right? Quote: Originally Posted by RandyG: "These young plants are getting too much nutrition, especially nitrogen. The overly thick stems, balling of the foliage in the top of the plant, and what looks like flowers that are not developing properly due to the over vegetative state are all indications. I would put them on straight water for a few days and then when you go back to the fertilizer solution maybe use half strength until you start to get some fruit set and development of the fruit. Then you could probably go back to full strength if that is not too excessive. Also, I think you are probably watering more than needed at this stage of growth. When you have them on constant feed with lots of water and lots of light, the plants transpire a lot and take up more fertility than they need." End of Randy's response. My reply: Thanks for your help, I think you are DEAD ON! I recently upped my nutrient E.C. from 1.2 to a 2.0. I did this b/c a tech at General Hydroponics said I should, but he also asked if my plants had fruit. I like a dummy said yes, but that's not the whole picture. Due to this being my first time hydroponic grow, logistical problems were encountered causing me to have variably aged plants in my system. My oldest plants do have fruit and haven't been affected; but, the problems are being exhibited on plants that were placed into the system later and they are younger and DO NOT have fruit. My reservoir change is due in a couple of days and I plan on reducing my E.C. back to a 1.3. I'm also thinking of tinkering with my watering schedule to see how long it takes for my plants to begin to wilt and then adjust my watering so that they are flooded a little bit before the wilt begins. Thanks a million for your advice and I'll post an update as to what ends up happening. THE GREENE TOMATO: http://thegreenetomato.wordpress.com Here is a link that might be useful: The Greene Tomato
...See More
Black Krim Leaf Roll
Q
Comments (10)
I'm not sure why you brought this up again, since it's already being discussed in detail in the Droopy thread. Leaf Roll usually occurs only when plants are young and there's an imbalance in root mass and above ground vegetative mass. When both are in balance as the plants mature, no more leaf roll. But If the leaves roll into a tight roll then one has to also think about aphids being inside. Leaf Curl can occur if it's too wet, too dry, too hot too cold,etc., in other words stress, and most hybrids show leaf curl normally and it can also occur on any plant that has a heavy fruit burden. I've seen both leaf roll and leaf curl on varieties of ALL colors, not just the so called blacks, and more specifically never just with Black Krim. Carolyn, with yes, over 3K plus varieties grown to date,grew up on a farm where we had acres and acres of tomatoes, is a retired senior citizen now, but has been up close and personal with tomatoes since she was 5 and just turned 74 this past June. And is still growing some tomatoes at home, but someone else does it for her b'c she's been using a walker since Dec of 2004 when she severed all four quads in her right leg. But finds the seeds for her annual seed offer elsewhere,most new to all folks, and others do the growing and seed production for her. No more growing several hundreds of plants and varieties each year at the old family farm with rows 250 ft long.
...See More
Distinguishing between Black Krim and Black From Tula
Q
Comments (5)
You probably should wait and see if they'll turn black when ripe, they might not. My BFT last year had average sized (not large) round fruits. The plant was less vigorous grower and hence not so tall as many of my other tomatoes. They looked more similar to the second picture. The seeds were bought from a seed vendor, but I am not 100% sure about its BFT identity.
...See More
Tiny black spots and leaf roll?
Q
Comments (11)
Huh. Assuming it's not just LA black dust... Did you by chance recently have aphids? After seeing more photos, it kind of looks like it could be sooty mold from sap-sucking pests. On tomatoes, that's most likely from aphids. The rolled leaves are also a sign of sap-sucking pests, although given your location, it could just be physiological leaf roll from the heat. Another thing it could be is atypical presentation of mite poop. Take a magnifying glass and examine the undersides of the leaves. Mites are small enough that most people can't see them with the naked eye. If they're mites, you might have to look hard, since you may have knocked them back quite a bit with the neem. If could be fungal disease, too (as opposed to something like sooty mold that doesn't feed on the plant but rather on honeydew left by pests), but I would expect to see some yellowing of the leaf in your original post if it were.
...See More
spiced_ham
15 years ago
Leaf rolling is a very common occurrance, and some varieties are worse than others. Usually it happens (for me) when there is a lot of rain and the soil stays soggy for too long. Its nothing to worry about. Leaf curl virus affects the top leaves, stunts them, discolors them and causes upward cupping.

You potatoleaf Black Krim is almost certainly a stray seed. It is a fairly common thing. I have gotten some very nice "extra" varieties from stray seed, some of which were distinctive enough to identify. May I ask where you bought your seed from.

Spontaneous mutation from RL to PL is so rare as to in far last place as the cause (and plant size would not be affected), and crossed seed would take two generations to show up meaning that the seed grower would have had to plant seeds from a hybrid plant that probably did not look like Black Krim.

If you do want to breed a PL Black Krim-like tomato I would cross Japanese Black Trifele (PL) with Black Krim and then select out the PL plants in the second generation, and select for flavor from those plants.
cleo88
15 years ago
FYI, I believe Ami Deutch in Germany (meisenbacher here, I think) is growing a PL Black Krim this year called Flathead Monster (one of my favorite tomato names). Not sure where the seed came from.
rnewste
15 years ago
californian,

Here is a photo of my Black Krim taken 10 minutes ago. While I see some leaf "cupping", I don't see any full leaf "roll".

{{gwi:1322277}}

Raybo
californian
Original Author
15 years ago
From the research I did some kinds of tomatoes are more likely to develop leaf roll than others. I guess Black Krim is one of them, because I watered all my tomatoes about the same, but only the Black Krim had a bad case of leaf roll. I won't water them for a couple of days to see if the leaves open back up, or once they roll is it permanent? Maybe I should poke some holes in the dirt to let in some air.
californian
Original Author
14 years ago
I decided to pull the Black Krim plant suffering from leaf roll out. I gave it two weeks to recover and it didn't. I expected to see the roots rotted or something but they looked healthy. Don't know why this one plant didn't recover but the other three Black Krims did. Some of the curled leaves were starting to turn brown on the edges, and they were very brittle.

Black Krim leaves rolling up into cylinder shape

Comments (7)

rnewste

californian
Original Author

Related Discussions

spiced_ham

cleo88

rnewste

californian
Original Author

californian
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Black Krim leaves rolling up into cylinder shape

Comments (7)

rnewste

californianOriginal Author

Related Discussions

spiced_ham

cleo88

rnewste

californianOriginal Author

californianOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

californian
Original Author

californian
Original Author

californian
Original Author