tomato leafs curling

16 years ago

HELP-I just noticed that my container of Rutgers Heirloom tomato leafs are beginning to curl and get little spots on them. This happened last year too. I planted in in Miracle Grow dirt for flowers and veggies. Should I spray with tomato spray-I water only in the early morning. Anyone one have ideas on what I am doing wrong and what I should be doing

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Comments (3)

jbann23
16 years ago
Hard to tell your situation without a bit more info. Pics are a great help too. First off, curling leaves aren't much of a problem, especially lower leaves. Leaves in contact with the ground, then curling and developing spots may be a concern. So, make sure there are no leaves in the dirt; if there are then either trim them off the plant or support them somehow away from the soil. Lower leaves generally are lost by the end of a growing season anyway. Don't worry about cutting those bottom leaves off, it won't hurt the plant in any way. Hope all this helps.
yardenman
16 years ago
Whiteflies and aphids can cause curling leaves. If you shake the leaves and little white things fly up, it's whiteflies. If the undersides of the leaves have little insects on them, it's aphids. Insecticidal soap can help both problems.

Spots are usually from fungal diseases. Early Blight and Septoria are most likely in our area. Early blight shows concentric rings with a yellow halo. Septoria has a grey center and lacks the yellow halo. There are (unfortunately) many other fungal and viral diseases that cause spots.

Keep in mind that the curling leaves and the spots may be caused by separate problems.
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The plants in self-watering containers and in 5-gallon grow bags are both exhibiting the leaf roll. However, I do have 2 5-gallon grow bags that have plants in partial shade which do not exhibit leaf roll and are just as big, if not bigger, than those in the self-watering containers. I'm thinking the leaf roll may be root stress related. Either the 5-gallon containers/bags have become too small, the container gets too hot thus stressing the roots, or the potting soil has finally compacted and isn't delivering enough oxygen to the roots. I have tomato plants in raised beds as well and I haven't noticed any leaf roll with them. I have noticed a few had yellowing leaves w/brown spots (3rd picture), however.
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Well, that's A major problem with it. I don't know that that's the only REAL problem with it. It's problematic on many levels. Such herbicides are a tool and are sometimes very needed. However, it needs to be a precision tool wielded with great care, not something that lazy homeowners and landscapers trying to save on labor costs pull out as a first option. But I would think that agricultural use also contributes an enormous amount to the environmental contamination, not just home use. Of course, a farmer is less likely to spray it in the middle of May or June when gardens are in full swing and ruin their neighbors' plantings. Then again, contamination of manures and mulches due to agricultural use still kill people's plants year-round. They need to be more tightly regulated.
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'Tomato Leaf Roll' (you can Google that term for more details) is a stress response for the plant. The causes of the stress can be several things but inconsistent soil moisture levels is the most common, lack of sufficient nutrients the second most common cause. and over-crowding is another. I see in your photo. The puffy, swollen areas in the leaves is called leaf edema and results from over-watering and frequent shallow watering. If you must use a sprinkler then it needs to run longer for a good deep soaking but less frequently. Many of the leaves also show signs of insufficient nutrients - primarily nitrogen - so they need to be fed. Dave
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Leaf compost is carbon based and has very little nitrogen which would be there if the green portion of compost were added. However the leaf compost will be good for the soil in the long run. Try adding nitrogen to your soil.Lawn fertilizer is high in nitrogen. I don't know if it will solve your oroblem but it;'s worth a rtry
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carolyn137
16 years ago
I wouldn't worry that much about the curled leaves. They curkl when it's too hot, too cool, too wet and too dry and when there's a heavy fruit burden. If they curl over into a tube like structure, then look for aphids.

Spots on the leaves in your area suggest one or more of the four most common foliage diseases, Early Blight ( A.solani) and Septoria Leaf Spot being fungal and Bacterial Speck and Bacterial Spot being bacterial/

There is no tomato spray that is effective against both fungal and bacterial foliage diseases. The fungal ones do progress faster and I might suggest you consider using Ortho Garden Disease Control for the fungal ones.

But perhaps it would be best for you to go to the Tomato Pest and Disease Forum, link at the top of this page and find the thread titled Problem Solver #2 and look at the posts for links to sites that post good pictures. One of the best is TAMU.

Then see if you can match up what you see with a picture.

Carolyn

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tomato leafs curling

Comments (3)

jbann23

yardenman

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carolyn137

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