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Growing Tomatoes

Tomato plant leaf curl?

7 years ago

Hi everybody! So I've had a Delicious tomato plant variety that I just recently transplanted out into my garden. I hardened it off for about two weeks before officially transplanting and now just today I've noticed that it's wilting a little and the leaves are curling. It's been a bit windy, but I don't see what the issue could be. Any ideas?

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Comments (7)

digdirt2
7 years ago
The condition is called "Tomato Leaf Roll" and you can find lots of info about it on the web vis Google as well as many discussions here about it. It is Caused by stress - usually watering issues of overly wet like heavy rains followed by excessive dry etc. but other stress issues can also contribute. One contributing factor in this case in my opinion is all the heavy strange appearing wood mulch there.

I don't know where you are located or even your zone but it is early for mulch in most of the country and mulching such as this is not recommended for several reason. Pull it back from the stem by about 6" and try to stabilize the soil moisture levels.

The roll will not reverse itself but the new growth should be fine.

Dave
jdn201_ks_6a
Original Author
7 years ago
I live in zone 9a. I took your advice and pulled back the mulch. I think I may have also been overwatering despite advice I've read online, I will not be doing that again. It does seem to appear like it did better after the sun went down yesterday,maybe a little heat stress as well.
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OK, so the soil is the same as last year's, amended with Black Kow, a very reputable brand of composted cow manure. The straw mulch was purchased at Lowe's. I could try removing the mulch, which I laid on very heavily. The other possibility is that my yard guy spot treated for weeds in February and some of those clippings may have been blown toward the raised beds (if so, they weren't noticeable to me. There were no clippings visible in the beds when I mulched the tomatoes with straw. Could they even be an issue if the treatment was in February? I think I need to remove the straw mulch from everything. I mulched both the raised beds and containers with it 2 weeks ago, and so far, only one plant has the curling leaves. But it could still be developing if the straw is contaminated. I am yanking the curling leaf plant. I will get another bale of straw from another supplier and hope for the best. I don't want to leave the plants unmulched. I will plant a test plant with some of the compost in a container and see if it starts to suffer this problem. But the compost will be from a different bag/batch of the Black Kow, so that won't be definitive if it results in a healthy plant. Sheesh! Problems so soon in the season...my yard guy has strict instructions not to spray any herbicides without warning me first (and he does my neighbor's yard as well). Thanks very much for all the input.
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jdn201_ks_6a
Original Author
7 years ago
The new growth seems to be fine,so I have my fingers crossed.
digdirt2
7 years ago
Good to hear. Good luck.

Dave
jdn201_ks_6a
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you!
Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
7 years ago
To my experience, some varieties tend to get rolled leaves more than others. Some continue having RL all season long. I can name one : BLACK KREM.

Right now in my garden 3 or 4 out of 18 (planted out so far ) have some leaf roll while the remaining 14 are normal. I think this is due to the fact that different varieties respond to stress condition differently. I am not worried . I treat all of them the same way. Besides, regardless of the some leaf roll they are healthy and are growing normally. IMO

Sey
jdn201_ks_6a
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you for your input Sey. It really helps knowing that there are others out there that can help. Its my first year seriously gardening and I might be over-doing it a little, but I feel like I have the time to dedicate to my garden, so I'm going for it! I am also growing some peppers, squash, cucumbers, and watermelon.

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