Sounds like leafroll from too much water.

Is the plant that is stressed in the center of the bed? It may be that it is not drying out and is water logged. Poke your finger down into the soil a good 3" or more, is it wet? How about compared to the other two plants?

If is it not wetter than the other two, then there is probably something else stressing it out. In which case, could you post a picture or two? A relative closeup of the plant and then an overal shot of the bed?

Betsy

I'll try and post a few shots when I get back home tonight. it sounds like you might be right though. problem is I've got all the beds set on the same drip line. maybe I can swap out the dripper buttons for ones with Less water flow.

Hey El,

Yes, if that is the problem, then switching to a dripper that is a lower GPH rating at that plant would be a good idea, you might have to tinker with it some to get the right combo. If the other two don't have any problems, leaver there drippers as they are.

How far apart are the plants, how deep is the bed and what is under it (cement, clay, solid rock? I am betting it is not sand.)

Betsy

/Users/shermalley1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/May 6, 2010/IMG_5268.JPG

Sorry but that's not a valid URL - all it gets even with proper html codes added is a 404 error message.

As Bets said it just sounds like tomato leaf roll a defined and common condition - you can read all about it by Goggling 'tomato leaf roll'.

Dave

OK, sorry about that bad URL, was trying to attach a photo and obviously it didn't work. Bets, I'm attaching a link to several shots of my plants and garden area. I'm thinking it's the overwatering, but take a look if you will and see what you think. Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato plants

Oops. Instead of "growing meadi " put "growing media"

Output of each dripper is 1gph. Watering twice a day, every other day for 5 mins. Growing medium seems moist right at base of plant next to stem, dryer as you move away from the stem. As I push deeper into soil (5 or more inches) it seems wetter. The bed is not deep, maybe just a few inches, and it sits on top of loamy clay soil that has been broken up. I had tomatoes in this same bed last year and they did great. However, the bed was deeper and I watered by hand instead of drip.

The plants are likely short of water. Thus, rolled leaves.

Drip 10 minutes every other day provides only 1/6th of a gallon.

- If the soil is coarse textured, the water goes essentially straight down.

- If the soil is fine textured -- as in a clay-based soil -- the water doesn't go very deeply but does spread out wider.

Neither situation is likely to encourage the development of a sizable root system.

I suggest you do some excavating to determine just where the water went, and where it didn't. Then adjust your watering duration, also frequency.

I find it ironic that three of us (all in CA) are reporting similar problems. Here are two other threads on the forum that are talking about it:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0501540627561.html?1
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg051443056773.html?16

I don't understand what's ironic. Stressed tomato plants are commonplace across the country.

For what it's worth, I'm in Southern Colorado in a hot, dry climate. Last year my tomatoes got 12 hours daily of direct sunlight. I had them all on the same soaker hose, and the only variety out of over 20 which experienced leaf roll was my Black Krim. One plant rolled up so much that I simply pulled it out and replaced it. On the other two, the leaf roll stayed confined to the lower leaves, and they went on to produce a heavy crop of outstanding tomatoes.
If you dig around online, you'll find lots of posts about people who think that black tomatoes are more prone to leaf roll, as well as a bunch of people who deny this.
I saved seeds from those plants last year, but am growing them at a different house with sandier soil. I'm curious to see if the leaf roll will occur again.

Hi El,

Sorry about not getting back to you. Last week was finals week, then this weekend we have been working on getting the garden spot ready.

Jean is right, you are only watering your plants about a sixth of a gallon every other day. I have read several times (just can't find it now) that tomatoes need about an inch of water a week, or about 4.5 to 5.0 gallons of water a week on a yard square.

The weird thing is that leaf roll is almost always a problem with over watering. It may be that the clay soil, even if broken up, is holding water like a bathtub would, especially if the clay were dug down into deeper under it than under the other two. The water would tend to pool in the center of the bed. The plants on the ends would have better drainage because they are more exposed to the area where the soil meets the boards of the raised bed.

I would suggest a soil moisture meter. You can get some pretty good ones for under $10. What you are really looking for is a way to compare the amount of water in your raised bed at various places. I have one that the probe is about 9 or 10 inches long. Since that is much longer than my finger, I figure that gives me a better picture of what the soil moisture is closer to the roots of the tomatoes.

Hope that helps.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: Number 15 is about leaf roll.