That looks more like herbicide damage or a viral infection to me.

I am not aware of any amount of compost causing leaf curl. I have heard of some people having tomato plants sprout in their compost pile (it obviously was not hot enough) and it did fabulously. No, it hard to imagin how a high nutriant material would cause leaf curl of this magnitude. Purhps the compost you are using has something in it that is hurting your plants. I heard that there is a pesticide that was designed to kill every form of plant life except grass. As I understand it it does not break down after it has done its job. This pesticide is so stubborn that it does not break down after cattle have eaten it and pooped it out and then composted. After all that it remains just as potent as the day it was first applied. The only way to test to see if your steer manure has been affected is to place some on top of a broadleaf plant (dont use grass, it was designed to kill everything except grass) and wait a couple of days. If the plant survives then the steer manure you are using is safe. However, if it dies.... well you can guess what you will do with it. Personally, I would take it back to the nursery and let them know - I would certainly ask for my money back. If you try this test method be sure you wet the sample after you place some on top of the weed you are testing it on.

Tom

Sorry for the problem. (But, gosh, those are great images of damage from a weed killer.)

The persistent herbicide the previous poster mentioned is clopyralid. If it's not the cause, also if you don't use weed killers, then the herbicide drifted from elsewhere.

On the chance that the problem is the compost, here's a Washington State University site with info, images, also an easy bioassay you can do to determine if the compost is the problem.

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/Clopyralid.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: info re clopyralid in compost

Neglected to mention. If the bioassay shows weed killer is present, come back and let us know.

Not to sound too simple, but have you asked the other tomato growers in your community garden what they are doing? But it sounds to me like you are using way too much fertilizer.

I agree it is hard to use too much compost, but too much fertilizer is easy. Especially, too much nitrogen does weird things to veggies.

As I understand the situation, you used the fertilizer in the planting hole, and then later top-dressed with it once.

What is the timeline? You seem to be saying that at first the plant was fine, which should indicate that the fertilizer in the planting hole did not cause any problems (plenty of flowers and relatively large fruits).

Then later you top-dressed. How long after the top-dressing did the tops become curled?

It's only the tops that are curled, right? (By "tops" I mean the growth points, whether at the end of the main stem or the end of the suckers.) That means whatever affected the plant happened while that part was growing. If it was herbicide damage, I can't tell you when the exposure would have taken place -- but not very long ago.

You said you didn't see any damage in anyone else's plot. How about weeds? (This is on the theory -- I read murder mysteries -- that your subconscious mind, busy looking for veggies, might ignore weeds completely.) Any broad-leaf weeds growing near your plants? Do they show any damage? Or are there any that are brown and dead?

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I have used a total of three yards of this compost throughout my vegetable garden and my ornamental beds up at the house. There is nothing else showing anything but signs of happiness. So, I really don't think there is a persistent herbicide in the compost.

The tomatoes are surrounded by various other plants and they are all fine (except for the flea beetles, of course...) and producing as well as can be expected given a month of rain. So, I don't think it is herbicide being used. The community garden leans organic and it's hard to imagine anyone using an herbicide of any kind. And besides, the damage would certainly be more widespread.

As for the time line, I set out the plants at the end of May and put the organic fertilizer in the holes. I had also amended the soil with some compost a couple weeks earlier. I top-dressed with maybe a half an inch about three weeks after planting, before putting down some straw mulch (which I am also using on all the veggies, so we can't blame the mulch).

I think the tops of the plants became curled within a week or two of the top-dressing. I saw it in two plants first and ripped them out immediately. I was away for a week and returned home to find most of the rest of the plants starting to show signs. A few seemed unscathed in late June. Yesterday, two more that had been looking good are starting to get the curl.

My plot is 20x20 and the tomatoes are spread throughout. (I know that's probably not idea for crop rotation....I am a newbie!) I was hoping it was just having planted in the north side of the plot, where tomatoes were likely planted last year by the previous owner. But, now it is spreading everywhere.... :(

From this description, sounds like curly top virus.
See Table 1

The timing does seem to rule out your compost being at all related to the curling. That leaves a virus as the most likely reason. You have my condolences.

Crop rotation is not a big deal with tomatoes. Better if you can do it, but rarely a problem if you don't -- as long as you're amending the soil.

Hey there. I am still kind of a noob with tomatoes but a similar thing to this happened with my plants earlier this year. The leaves started curling and the veins turned purple. It ended up being a phosphorous deficiency. I was so worried about getting plenty of nitrogen for my plants this year that I kinda didnt think about the other two really important nutrients P and K. I could have had a potassium problem also but a deficiency there doesnt really show up in noticeable ways until you pick ripe fruit. So anyways I have been giving the plants some organic liquid fertilizers with high P and K semi regularly and they cleared right up within a day or two.
So perhaps this could be an idea.
Good luck!
Ry

Ry, do my pics look like your plants?

Can you tell me what kind of liquid fert you used? I have a bottle of kelp/fish (2-3-1) in the garage...sprayed the leaves yesterday. Maybe I should drench the soil.

As for the possibility of the curly top virus, I agree it seems plausible. However, I have read it is more prevalent out west. (I am in MA.) And is also says that "hot, dry Springs" are a factor. Aside from some bizarre days in the 90's in April, we've had a very cold, wet Spring. Go figure...

The leaves on mine had not curled quite as much as yours have, but the purple veins are exactly how mine were. Spot on! Definitely get that fertilizer into the soil. I know that you are not supposed to have too much N around bloom time and fruiting. I use the Alaska Morbloom 0-10-10. The nursery told me it was organic but upon further review I am not so sure. But fish emulsion is a main ingredient. Have a look. The big bottle cost about $10.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bottom of the page- MorBloom

Fertilizer won't do that sort of damage.

When you say, "now the problem is spreading everywhere." what do you mean?

Everywhere to all the tomatoes?

Or everywhere to other plants?

As it turns out, virus would wouldn't skip and jump through a garden to find all the tomato plants. But herbicide vapors could.

I still vote for herbicide damage. Perhaps drift.

As it turns out, some herbicides volatilize in the heat while those vapors and others can move on the breeze. When atmospheric conditions are right, the herbicides can move for miles.

Tomatoes are EXTREMELY sensitive to herbicides. They are easily damaged.

Even though it's an organic garden, not every one plays by the rules, also drift happens as described above.

In the meantime, rule out compost contamination by doing the bio-assay. It's easy to do and you'll have results in several days.

jean, good point about tomatoes being extra sensitive to herbicides (daylilies are too; I have more experience of that than of tomatoes).

virus would wouldn't (sic) skip and jump through a garden to find all the tomato plants -- I'm not sure about that. The virus might be transmitted by an insect which loves tomatoes but won't eat cucumbers or carrots. Similarly, he virus might be carried by an insect which happily eats everything, but the virus only affects tomatoes, while the other vegetables she's growing are immune to it.

The fact that different tomato plants were affected at different times could argue for a virus spread by insects.

From the OP's comments about the timeline, I ruled out herbicide. But if someone -- or multiple someones -- used herbicide in the vicinity at least two or three different times, that would explain it.

amy, maybe it's time to contact your County Extension Office. They'll know what other people are experiencing in your area. You can probably drop off a sample at their office and get a first-hand diagnosis.

If you can't find them in your phone book, google the name of your county plus the words extension and county. Or check the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Massachusetts County Extension offices

What this looks like to me is Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus. It is not a common virus. It is spread by the Thrips insect.

On a young plant you might as well pull it out of the ground and throw it away. On an older plant that has already started to produce fruit you can just let it stay in the ground and see if perhaps more fruit will begin to form on the lower half of the plant or on new growth. If new fruit does not seem to be forming then you need to just take the plant out and start over. The odds are, you will not have much of a crop this year even if the plant does produce fruit on new foliage. If you have TSWV there is not a lot you can do about it.

The following link will help you to figure out how to manage the thrips insect if it is going to be a longterm problem. This is one of those viruses that will ruin a garden. Fortunately for most (sorry for you) this is not a common problem. I had this problem a long time ago on only one season. That season was pretty much a bust. But it never came back again.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Virus_SpottedWilt.htm

About half way down the page you will see information about management. Picture #9 looks like your leaves.

Fortunately for the rest of us this is not a common problem. Although not much solace to you.

Tom

No way does it look like spotted wilt virus.

Here are a batch of university images of that disease; the link is below this post. (You need to scroll about half way down that page to locate them.)

Pictures:
TSWV symptoms on whole tomato plants:

and

TSWV symptoms on tomato fruit:

and

Symptoms of TSWV on several vegetable species:

Oh phooey. The URLs don't show up. You'll have to go to the source page using the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: the source of the above links

I neglected to add -- If the plants start to improve, it's definitely not virus.

Jean,

Looks like you are right.

I guess I gotta go look some more

Tom

OH,

I got the diagnosis from a guy who has been a nurseryman for about 25 yrs. Based on what I described that is what he came up with.

Sorry to have mistaken what it was.

Okay, so I didn't really feel the lightbulb go off for the TSWV, but nothing has really given me that "ah ha" feeling yet. Even the herbicide theory because everything around the tomatoes is looking just fine in that regard.

So, let me ask you this...

If it was herbicide exposure, how long would that take to manifest? I had these seedlings in my yard before setting them out. Is it possible they were exposed then? (I suspect the timeline rules this out...just asking.)

I think the next thing I will do is get in touch with the farmer from whom I bought a few of my plants, including the first two to show the signs of this mess, see what she says. Those two plants just never looked all that great, but since I had little experience with heirlooms, I figured it was just characteristic. (They were Speckled Plums.)

So, here are two more questions...

Can I eat the green tomatoes? If they are viral or herbicidal, should they be chucked? If they ripen, would you eat them?

And, if you were in a community garden setting, would you let this play out or dispose of the plants? I feel a certain responsibility to my neighbors....except for the one to the east who has let her plot go to seed. (grumble grumble)

And btw, avid hiker, I really enjoyed that feed-the-soil rant...er...post. :-) My kind of thinking! Makes me feel so much more optimistic about the clay hardpan up at the house. Who needs a digging fork when you have microbes?!

That is most definitly herbicide damage. I have plants still in my yard that match that picture exactly (I can post a picture too, if you like).

It was as a result of herbicide drift from my neighbors yard and, yes, the herbicide drifted quite far - farther than you'd think. After all of my young plants started curling up, I was able to get a confession from my neighbor that he had sprayed earlier in the week. It took a couple days to manifest since the herbicide affects new growth with the greatest visible effect.

As for the curly top virus or wilt theories, I can post you a pic with the same looking leaves that your plant has, but after a month, the plants outgew it. If it were a virus, they would not have gotten better.

As far as other plants being ok, that sounds right too. Tomatoes are much more sensetive to herbicides than most plants. In my garden, when the tomatoes curled up, the cucumbers and peppers kept growing like nothing happenned.

If the herbicide used was the standard 2,4-d stuff (roundup), then yes, the fruit on the plants will be safe to eat. The 2,4-d herbicides are broken down very quickly after being sprayed so odds are that any traces will be long gone by the time you get fruit on your plants.

Hope this helps.

I had to jump in to respond to this:
"If it was herbicide exposure, how long would that take to manifest? I had these seedlings in my yard before setting them out. Is it possible they were exposed then? (I suspect the timeline rules this out...just asking.)"

I had this exact situation with my tomato seedlings this year. I was setting them out in my yard to harden off during the day and bringing them in at night. On one of those days a crop duster came over and, as it turned out, sprayed herbicide on surrounding fields. I thought it had only affected a couple of the plants and they didn't look too bad so I went ahead and planted them out in my greenhouse. It took about 12 days for them all to look like those pictures of yours....all of them. I had to take them all out and replace with store bought plants. As an experiment I left one of my favorites (Brandywine-SS) and cut the growing top out of it to see what would happen. It has grown several new big branches that look normal with flowers on them. We will see....

Anyway, my vote is solidly with the herbicide damage and I would also bet it happened while you had the plants in your yard.

Good luck with your plants.

mary, it can't all have happened while the plants were in amy's yard, because some of the damage didn't manifest until a month after planting.

amy, are your prevailing winds from the west/northwest? Or are you close enough to the shore to have winds from the ocean as well? Herbicide drift would follow the wind patterns. What's off in that direction fifty feet? a hundred feet? two hundred feet? three hundred feet? Any lawn? Any beautifully-manicured beds?

It was said: "it can't all have happened while the plants were in amy's yard, because some of the damage didn't manifest until a month after planting."

Yes it can.

The reason: Repeat applications, by same or different person.

Further, you don't need wind to move volatilized chemicals. All you need is updrafts, downdrafts, and the like, all moving in the "wrong" direction -- to someone's tomatoes. Or grapes, another *very* sensitive plant.

Then, too, even if the volatiles settle on a acre of tomatoes, only some of the tomatoes may be affected. Volatiles don't always settle as a group. (As a comparison, but not necessarily the reason, consider how water moves; it seeks the lowest places.)

And that can move miles, not just feet.

As for how long it takes for the damage to be visible, depends upon how rapidly the plant is growing, also the dose it received.

Okay, I am back for more! :-)

To answer some of the questions posed here...the prevailing winds are from the west I believe. And no, there are no manicured lawns. I live in a new subdivision (infill, new urbanist model) and I am the only one here so far. We're hours from the ocean.

I have two seedlings still in pots in the yard that never got planted. They show none of the signs of this problem so I think it did not happen here at the house.

I spent quite some time on Monday and again last night looking at everyone's tomato plants, all around me at the gardens. There is not one plant showing signs of this issue. Not one.

I also want to point out that none of the plants were in bloom when I set them out. I made sure of that. Pinched any blooms that were present at the time. Most of the plants have fruit, some as many as a dozen and the early varieties are approaching mature size, though still green.

Would plants affected by herbicide or a virus set fruit with such vigor? And should I eat said fruit?

I gave everything a seaweed/kelp drench a few days ago. Some plants seem to look better, though it may be wishful thinking. Some look worse. Two Sophie's Choice I set out a week or two after the first planting, ones that had looked fine even when the others started to curl, now look worse than any others. So, it seems to me that this syndrome is rolling through the plants, roughly in the order in which they were set out.

The only other crop that seems to be having issues (besides critters) is my Fortex beans. The new growth is small, dark green, crinkled and leathery. I dug around a bit for bean problems yesterday but did not find a ready answer. They are growing and flowering.

I haven't started the bioassay yet because I am leaving town next week and wont be able to watch the plants. maybe I could start them and ask someone to look after them while I'm gone. It is something I do want to do though...

Oh, one more thing I forgot to add...the suckers are emerging with the same nasty curly growth. Any idea what that means?

And I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who is really thinking hard on this one, looking things up for me and trying to help. This is an amazing board!

Please see new report from NC State on herbicide residues in hay, manure and compost. Also, there's a story in November 2008 Mother Earth News. Search for killer compost at their website.

Tomatoes and beans are highly susceptible to damage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Herbicides in manure

"Oh, one more thing I forgot to add...the suckers are emerging with the same nasty curly growth. Any idea what that means?"

2,4-D herbicides are systemic and since your plants have been likely hit by 2,4-D, the new growth will also show the curl twist you saw on the older leaves. The new growth may even be more affected than the established growth.

OP wrote: "Fortex beans. The new growth is small, dark green, crinkled and leathery

Sounds like weed killer.

Ditto for the nasty curled tomato suckers.

Jean, you're right. I dug deeper into the link you posted earlier and found pics of beans that look identical to mine.

Spoke with my Extension Doc today, he says to find another tomato to do the bioassay. I have those two orphans in my yard still. I will do those and beans or peas.

I am feeling really furious at the moment. The Mother Earth News article mentioned a half life of 533 days. I mean, I don't really know what's going on yet, but I really suspect it's something IN the soil and not drift or vaporization. If it is in the soil, it feels like a pretty bad situation. Like I shouldn't be eating ANY of this food.

I have worked my backside off on this garden, read the books and done everything I can do to get it right. To think that perhaps all of my efforts are wasted and worse still, that my plot may now be contaminated just makes me crazy.

Okay....enough whining. I need to start the bioassay tomorrow. I need to get to the bottom of this mess...

I'm only jumping in here about a comment that was made about 2,4-D:

"If the herbicide used was the standard 2,4-d stuff (roundup), then yes, the fruit on the plants will be safe to eat. The 2,4-d herbicides are broken down very quickly after being sprayed so odds are that any traces will be long gone by the time you get fruit on your plants."

2,4-D is NOTHING like Roundup. Roundup is a salt I believe (glyphosate) and 2,4-D is much nastier stuff.

2,4-D is NOT recommended for veggie gardens! You can't use it and grow edibles there, you can't replant with veggies after it. Roundup class products you CAN replant veggies, some veggies quite soon afterwards.

My apologies, a lot of the plant damage articles I read grouped round-up and 2,4-d together for some reason. Maybe it was just because round-up and 2,4-d are the more common herbicides that affect tomatoes.

At least I wasn't completely wrong, I did say roundup although I confused the chemical name. So if you find that it was roundup residue or drift, you are more than likely fine. If it wasn't, then yeah, it's a whole other deal.

"Or maybe too much compost?"

By any chance, does this compost contain lawn grass that was given weed killer, e.g., Weed and Feed?

Please check out link below from NC State on aminopyrolid contamination. There are widespread reports of tomatoes damaged by this s---, which persists in hay (mulch), manure and compost. Anyone who brought in mulch hay this year without asking questions is lucky to have gotten away clean.

There is ongoing reportage at MotherEarthNews.com (killer compost); leading advocacy work is being done by the Rachel Carson Council(.org).

Here is a link that might be useful: NC State herbicides in hay and manure

Well, I planted my soil test peas today and popped the last two tomatoes into pots. Six and two respectively. I also found some relatively healthy looking plants at a garden center in VT (relative for this time of year.) I think I will just put them into five gallon containers and see if I can't eek out some kind of non-toxic produce this summer.

Oh, and I called the compost guy this afternoon....left a message. He's a pretty nice guy, but I don't imagine he'll be too happy to get my message. Interestingly, my SIL used his compost in her square foot garden. She is on vacation. I will call her on Saturday to see how her plants are doing.

Last night, I was sleeplessly wondering if it might be the Mainely Mulch causing the problem. The curling didn't start until a couple weeks after the plants went in. I didn't mulch right away....waiting for the soil to warm up some, thinking the mulch would reflect the heat back.

I may go down and pull the mulch tonight...

OP wrote: " I don't really know what's going on yet, but I really suspect it's something IN the soil and not drift or vaporization."

The link I provided isn't talking about drift, volatiles, or direct spray. So yes, it may be in the soil -- via the compost.

If my thought is correct, it was herbicide -- clopyralid, by name -- sprayed on fields where livestock ate, that then survived the digestive process to end up in the manure.

Further the link posted by planatus includes clopyralid and adds to the list, namely "Aminopyralid, clopyralid, fluroxypyr, picloram, and triclopyr are in a class of
herbicides known as pyridine carboxylic acids."

It later says "The chemicals of greatest concern are picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid because they can remain active in hay, grass clippings, piles of manure, and compost for an unusually long time." (Yikes, some to 3 or 4 years!)

All are used for the same purpose and produce similar after-effects.

The clopyralid-contaminated manure must be composted for 1 year to ensure no after-effects -- the clopyralid label states just that.

Clopyralid isn't available for home use. But landscapers and farmers can use it.

As for the bioassay, follow the directions on the WSU website. You'll get much faster results than with a tomato plant.

Jean, I get that the link you posted is about the compost. I was just having a hard time taking that in at first. Now that the beans are looking like they do, I am a believer.

I had a nice long chat with my compost farmer tonight. He says his tomatoes are doing fine and he has not had any negative feedback from any of his customers. He uses no grass clippings in his raw material. He is well respected around here and has been doing this a long time. That doesn't mean it can't happen to him, but I suppose the assay test will be telling.

I did follow the test directions, except that I didn't have new pots. I assume that will not make a difference. I only potted up the tomatoes because the extension doc suggested it. Each of the six pots has four pea seeds.

My brother suggested a nasty garden neighbor as the culprit. He says he's heard of it before. I have to admit, that thought did just occur to me tonight as I was cycling home. Almost inconceivable... Almost.

Unfortunately, anyone can buy aminopyralid. It's widely available at farm supply stores.

This is a very tragic situation. Do bear in mind that squash family crops can't even tell the residues are there.

Here is a link that might be useful: a little more info

I'm safe because I only use the little compost that I make and lots and lots of store bought peatmoss.

Is somebody going to whine about peatmoss being an endangered species or whatever?

You know peter, the more I read, the more I think that none of us is really completely safe.

"Last night, I was sleeplessly wondering if it might be the Mainely Mulch causing the problem."

My husband and I are thinking the same thing. We have a small test-bed in the front yard containing tomatoes, nasturtiums, onions, and other things. The tomatos and some of the nasturtiums have had stunted-looking leaves for weeks now, and the other plants in the bed have been pathetic. Our potatoes in the main garden also suffered from stunted leaves a bit. This all started occuring after Mainly Mulch was used.

None of the surrounding beds of flowers and veggies have had similar damage, nor did the main tomato patch, so I don't think this is a virus or a drift of a neighbor's chemicals. Only the two beds that had Mainly Mulch applied showed this sort of damage.

We're organic gardeners, so this isn't an overapplication of anything we have added.

Yikes
I ammended my patch with Kelloggs N Rich & a bag of ammend.
They have that $1 rebate per bag up to 10
Still it gets $
so I just bought 3 bags of Home Depots Earthgrow compost w Steer Manure & a bag of gypsum.

Whats done is done but is there a real problem with adding some of this compost with steer? Gosh it could have weeds or worse weed killer? Its a $1 a bag cheap & I really don't want to put it in the car & drag it back.

Guess I can use it for the rose garden.

I'm really puzzled over all this fertilizer!! If you planted in good rich soil with plenty of compost, why all the fertilizer??

No, I'm not asking for 'expert' advice here - I'm just wondering who told you a tomato plant had to have all that fertilizer.

Not really added alot of fertilizer
just some kelloggs starter w beneficial bacteria.
Mostly added compost to loosen & enrich whic is slow acting.

My tomatoes are showing the same symptoms, extremely curled leaves on the new growth, and it's 2 weeks since I mulched them with hay chaff from a friend's barn which had sat in a pile for a year and started to decompose. The one tomato that didnt get mulched is the only one that is not affected. I think it's the hay herbicide poisoning syndrome. My question is, if I remove the hay mulch, rip these plants out and replant, will the new plants be ok, or is the soil contaminated in this bed? Is it just the planting holes that are affected, or do I need to remove all the soil in the bed? Does anyone have experience with trying to replant after using toxic mulch? TIA for any assistance!

Hi gardencat. My tomatoes outgrew the problem once I de-mulched them. But, it was the summer of the huge Late Blight problem here in the Northeast. They recovered, only to be trounced shortly thereafter by the blight. I think they might have been fine otherwise, as it was still early in our short season. Good luck!

amysrq, thanks for your reply! I'm glad your tomatoes outgrew this. I just de-mulched mine and threw the straw on some poison ivy! Also removed half the plants, including soil (that was hard -- they had already made beautiful strong root balls), and replanted with some extra tomatoes that I still had in the cold frame.

Did you get normal fruit from yours, once they started growing again? I notice that mine have pretty much stopped growing altogether. The flowers that were there a week ago are still there and are not developing at all. sigh... usually I start getting tomatoes by the end of June. I guess this year I will be lucky to get enough to freeze any.

Did you figure out the source of the herbicide contamination on yours? Was it the Mainely Mulch? From now on I am using only the products of my own yard for mulch. What a shame that the most powerful country in the world doesnt choose to protect its citizens from the reckless acts of greedy corporations.

My tomatoes are showing the same symptoms, extremely curled leaves on the new growth, and it's 2 weeks since I mulched them with hay chaff from a friend's barn which had sat in a pile for a year and started to decompose. The one tomato that didnt get mulched is the only one that is not affected. I think it's the hay herbicide poisoning syndrome. My question is, if I remove the hay mulch, rip these plants out and replant, will the new plants be ok, or is the soil contaminated in this bed? Is it just the planting holes that are affected, or do I need to remove all the soil in the bed? Does anyone have experience with trying to replant after using toxic mulch? TIA for any assistance!