Help with leaf curl issue

jhouse · August 9, 2019

Hi all,

I've got 6 tomato plants, and leaf curl on just one of them. This is a "Gold Medal" heirloom (thought it was a hybrid when I bought seed, oops), and it's just not looking happy. We've had some 90 + days, humidity and lots of rain.

We have foliar disease pressure, I do spray chlorythalonil and can't always do it on a cloudy day in optimum conditions -- if I have to spray while the sun is out, I do it in the morning at least while it's a bit cooler. This particular plant is in the shade until about 10:30 a.m in any case.

I wonder if it's sensitive to the chlorythalonil, or being sprayed while sunny (none of the others have reacted this way), or sensitive to heat, or has leaf curl disease?

The mature leaves that are the most curled are slightly crispy, but not totally. New growth looks good, and some of the other growth as well. One tomato is deformed, the rest look okay.

I haven't seen any pests, had several leaves with what looks like early blight to me (snipped off and disposed of), mulching with straw. Soil has not dried out to my knowledge, I check it, watering when needed with a soaker hose under weed block.

My other plants are fine. Thanks if anyone has any ideas why this plant isn't happy.

If the pics don't show properly I think you could just go to my profile and see the leaf curl album, if you don't mind a couple extra clicks of the mouse, thanks!

KarenO · August 9, 2019

It’s just stress. Heat.
Keep them watered and fed. Some are more likely to have curl than others. Sometimes one could be drier than the others under the mulch,
A bit of shade can help but generally it’s not harmful, just the plants way of showing you it’s a bit stressed. Fix what you can, it will sort itself out easy on pruning, thus isn’t disease and more pruning will add stress not fix it.
KarenO

jhouse · August 9, 2019

Thanks KarenO! I appreciate it!

On this plant I've only pruned the little bit of blighty looking leaves, just a few. Good to know I don't need to remove the curlies, I can just leave them be. . .or "leaf" them be. . .

KarenO · August 9, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhouse

Thanks KarenO! I appreciate it!

On this plant I've only pruned the little bit of blighty looking leaves, just a few. Good to know I don't need to remove the curlies, I can just leave them be. . .or "leaf" them be. . .

The plant needs them right now.
Any green non diseased leaf is working for the plant.
Even ones that are a bit curled

Nematode · August 9, 2019

https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-flor...toes-leaf-roll

jhouse · August 10, 2019

Thanks Nematode, it's a relief not to worry so much about it.

August 9, 2019	#1
jhouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: sw ohio Posts: 153	Help with leaf curl issue Hi all, I've got 6 tomato plants, and leaf curl on just one of them. This is a "Gold Medal" heirloom (thought it was a hybrid when I bought seed, oops), and it's just not looking happy. We've had some 90 + days, humidity and lots of rain. We have foliar disease pressure, I do spray chlorythalonil and can't always do it on a cloudy day in optimum conditions -- if I have to spray while the sun is out, I do it in the morning at least while it's a bit cooler. This particular plant is in the shade until about 10:30 a.m in any case. I wonder if it's sensitive to the chlorythalonil, or being sprayed while sunny (none of the others have reacted this way), or sensitive to heat, or has leaf curl disease? The mature leaves that are the most curled are slightly crispy, but not totally. New growth looks good, and some of the other growth as well. One tomato is deformed, the rest look okay. I haven't seen any pests, had several leaves with what looks like early blight to me (snipped off and disposed of), mulching with straw. Soil has not dried out to my knowledge, I check it, watering when needed with a soaker hose under weed block. My other plants are fine. Thanks if anyone has any ideas why this plant isn't happy. If the pics don't show properly I think you could just go to my profile and see the leaf curl album, if you don't mind a couple extra clicks of the mouse, thanks!

August 9, 2019	#3
jhouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: sw ohio Posts: 153	Thanks KarenO! I appreciate it! On this plant I've only pruned the little bit of blighty looking leaves, just a few. Good to know I don't need to remove the curlies, I can just leave them be. . .or "leaf" them be. . . Last edited by jhouse; August 9, 2019 at 02:30 PM.

August 9, 2019	#2
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	It’s just stress. Heat. Keep them watered and fed. Some are more likely to have curl than others. Sometimes one could be drier than the others under the mulch, A bit of shade can help but generally it’s not harmful, just the plants way of showing you it’s a bit stressed. Fix what you can, it will sort itself out easy on pruning, thus isn’t disease and more pruning will add stress not fix it. KarenO

August 9, 2019	#5
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-flor...toes-leaf-roll

August 10, 2019	#6
jhouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: sw ohio Posts: 153	Thanks Nematode, it's a relief not to worry so much about it.