Leaf Problem I've Never Seen Before - Please Help!!! (Pics)

14 years ago

My tomatoes have developed a problem that really has me worried. I've look at many websites to see if I can find any disease that corresponds with the symptoms but I can't seem to find anything. Here is what is going on:

I planted out about a month ago and everything seemed fine until last week the new growth on my container plants started to look funny. The best way I can describe it is to say the new growth looked tight, like it was growing in width faster than in length. The stems and leaves were thicker than normal and the leaves actually fused together. Now almost all the plants are growing like this. Please help me determine what this is, and if I need to pull up the plants infected asap to save the others. A summer without tomatoes is not summer at all.

I have 10 indeterminate plants in the ground (all but three are exhibiting these signs), 2 det. in containers (they showed these signs first), and five dwarfs (two of which are infected).

This is by far the worst and was the first to start showing symptoms:

Here you can see the leaves that are fused together.

Do you see how the stem is wavy. That seems to be another characteristic.

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Comments (10)

lazyhat
14 years ago
Could be genetic maby?. perhaps the seed you used was crossed with another variety, so its a F1 hybrid gone bad. I dont know just throwing an idea.
anney
14 years ago
The first picture looks like herbicide damage, RoundUp or other.

Has anyone within 100 feet been trying to kill weeds with a spray? Anybody near you had their lawn treated? It can drift even in balmy breezes and really ruin other plants.

You've checked for insects such as aphids? One year my pepper leaves curled up because of them, but you probably would have noticed them since their numbers would have to be pretty great to cause that damage.

Maybe others can suggest other possibilities, too.
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tomatovator
14 years ago
I see similar leaves every year and do not know what causes them. My plants seem to get affected after a sharp drop in temperature after some very hot days. They always continue to grow and produce. The weird leaves may only last for 1 or 2 branches then return to normal. As the deformed leaves grow in size they often get more and more normal looking. Acid rain? Air polution? Herbicide drift? I don't know but I think you will still get tomatoes, at least I did for the last 3 years with plants that developed leaves like the ones you posted.
opie12
14 years ago
The first pic looks like what happened to some of my tomatoes last year. It was determined that it was herbicide drift damage. They survived and produced.
tn_veggie_gardner
14 years ago
I agree with anney & opie. A flushing of the soil with plenty of water and some heat/sunlight would do that plant well. Maybe a diluted water-based fertilizer after the flush.
catman529
14 years ago
I've read that air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, can cause symptoms like these in leaves. Might be worth looking into..?
jean001
14 years ago
As has been said, herbicide drift.
tn_veggie_gardner
14 years ago
Yea...something for sure just attacked that plant via air travel. What it is, you must find out.
chellestar83
Original Author
14 years ago
My husband sprayed grass killer (Grass-B-Gon) in a nearby flower bed, but that is supposed to only effect grasses and not dicots. I suppose one of the neighbors could have sprayed a weed killer. Do you think they will survive?
anney
14 years ago
That stuff is purported to kill all plants it comes in contact with, though I suppose it's all relative. IOW, it might just damage the plant instead of killing it if the drift was very light.

Anyway, I think all you can do now is wait and see if the plant develops healthy new growth. And don't spray it or any other herbicide around vegetables again without heavily protecting them, no matter WHAT the company hype about them says.

Leaf Problem I've Never Seen Before - Please Help!!! (Pics)

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