simmran1, thanks for the compliment on the pics. i've been through the tomato problem solver so much now i think i've got those pics memorized :) didn't help much here, but definitely a good resource. Dave, we did have a brief aphid visitation on our tomatoes earlier this month (among other plants...artichokes and pomegranates) a light pruning and spot sprays of insecticidal soap seems to have taken care of that. nothing noticed on the peppers... no spider mites either. we did have some ladybugs show up around aphid time :) yay! over watering was a concern earlier but we've gone from twice a week to once a week, based on the earlier leaf curl symptoms. checking with a moisture meter confirms this, the root zone was 'wet' even after quite a few days. hence the previous leaf curl on lower leaves 'overwatering' stress. in AZ i think we tend to overwater, just cause it's a desert really ;) but looking objectively, our beds have really great soil, mulched heavily and temps have only been avg. in the high 80's lately. (although we did hit 102 yesterday!!) again, I'm leaning toward under fertilization/overwatering. we've only been giving light fish emulsion and seaweed 2x/month. (after a good planting with chicken/cow manure compost) which would give a great start like we've had. i agree with you on nutrient deficiency first/ disease process later. so we'll see how this latest fert. works over the week. now for more questions if people don't mind :) Is 1 TBS/gal sufficient mgs04? i've seen recommended up to 4 TBS/gal. err'd on cautious side.... (what i most want to know) will the affected leaves correct soon or should i judge by new growth? I'm not worried about the old curled growth, thats been there for while. but the new growth yellowing and curling worries me a bit. fruit production seems right on track for all varieties. do i ride out the symptoms and get what fruit matures or cull the plants and spare the other healthy ones? ahh... the suspense of gardening!! will monitor over the next week! :) we have had major aphid infestation on our brussels sprouts on the bed next to these. we've been gradually feeding the greens to our chickens. i'm a bit hesitant maintaining a 'pest resevoir' like this just for sake of chicken feed. I would mostly prefer to uproot and toss...please advise. my feeling is to just get rid of them, but dont' want to waste resources if aphids and plants are better in the stream for chickens rather than compost. upcoming... i did notice whiteflies on some of our youngest 'tumbler tomatoes', they're in a basket and doing great so far. thanks and look forward to any more insights and wisdom:) rob

Everything I've read about leaf curl (I've had some, too), indicates that: a) there are a large number of possible causes, and b) it is pretty impossible to ever pinpoint what the exact cause is. Sudden changes in temperature, watering (lack or excess of water) and soil conditions (such as transplanting) seem to be the most commonly cited causes. You seem to be combating at least two of these. If the plant is healthy, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Especially since there's not much you can do about either circumstance, unfortunately.

" A few have said, don't shade tomato plants, they love the sun no matter how high the temp. While others have said ABSOLUTELY provide them shade, especially on extremely hot days where the temp exceeds 90 degrees with midday sun. I'm a bit confused as to what's the best choice." It isn't an either/or choice. First because they are talking about normal weather patterns - which you don't have right now. Second, it depends on the age of the plants and the amount/degree of shade. Well established, big tall plants in the production stage of their life can tolerate much more sun and heat than young still-getting-established plants can. And we aren't talking about full dark shade, just something that cuts the sun exposure by 10-20% during the hottest part of the day (which is usually around 2-4 pm). Harry's old white sheet, window screens, or best some of the various row covers/shade cloth sold for that purpose. They still get plenty of sun but the heat is reduced a bit. And, even well-established blooming plants will not set fruit with temps in the mid-nineties so many use shade cloth just to drop the temps 5 degrees during those unusually hot periods. There are no absolute rules in growing. We have to adjust, to try to find a balance, for the variety of conditions as they develop. Dave

I am located in northern California, just south of the Bay in San Francisco. Our weather is usually mild & fairly consistent. Temps during the day have been 75-85 give or take. The temps do have a tendency to drop quite a bit come nightfall as the coastal fog starts coming inland bringing the temps down to the low 60s, at times in the upper 50s. My soIL has a PH of about 6-6.5. I used chicken manure, some sulfur to bring down the ph, it was at 9, so had to make adjustments. I also added peat moss, as my soIL is a bit on the clay side, it held water & wasnt the best at draining. Its much much better now. I initially had the soil tested & was given recommendations as to how to improve it, I made the corrections prior to planting. The strange color that is seen is not the soil but is mulch, gorilla hair, it's shredded redwood bark. It was what was recomended to me by my local nursery. A side note; All my other tomato plants that I planted at the same time are doing great, it's just the one. I water every 2-3 days dependent on the temperatures & according to the moisture levels that I test frequently. My soIL holds onto water a bit so I'm careful at being consistent. Initially I did have aphids but have eradicated them with use of compost tea which was really effective, there has been no sign of them in almost 2 weeks. There's been no sign of any other pest at all.