Strange top leaf growth

[elight]

Another season in Central Florida, another new disease/pest to battle. This seems to be affecting a number of my plants throughout the garden - both in raised beds and containers. The top leaves (new growth) appears very thin and curled, with skinny stems. The plants had started out great with the warm spring weather and zero precipitation we've had the past few months. I use a fertilizer injector on a drip system (at first, Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, and for the past few weeks since fruit set, Texas Tomato Food). Everything is pruned to a single stem on strings with tomato clips (first time trying).

Any thoughts on what this could be?

[Farmette]

Herbicide Drift? Has anyone been spraying in your area?

[Ricky Shaw]

Looks chromosomal to me, like persistent herbicides. Most often thru compost or soil matter, and although certainly possible with wind drift, probably less likely. Could be wrong, but when I see a stem stopped and laterals growing twisted and curled, there's just not many other things that wreak that much devastation so abruptly to new growth.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Farmette

Herbicide Drift? Has anyone been spraying in your area?

That was my first thought as well.

[jillian]

My opinion is definitely herbicide damage. Lost most of my tomatoes last year. I thought it was in my soil but it turned out to be drift from right across the road. It is a bummer. Sorry about your misfortune.

[Worth1]

It can happen very easily if the culprit sprays up into the air to get rid of stuff like poison ivy.
Now you have an air born mist cruising across peoples property.

Worth

[Ricky Shaw]

The garden can sometimes offer clues whether it's soil borne or wind drift with the affected plants location and condition in relation to nearby plant varieties that also have little tolerance to these persistent herbicides. (cucumber, squash, pumpkin, petunias, sunflowers, daisies, peas, beans, clover)

[Cole_Robbie]

Yep, another vote for herbicide, whether drifting through the air, or in contaminated compost.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

The garden can sometimes offer clues whether it's soil borne or wind drift with the affected plants location and condition in relation to nearby plant varieties that also have little tolerance to these persistent herbicides. (cucumber, squash, pumpkin, petunias, sunflowers, daisies, peas, beans, clover)

Several years ago I did it to myself.
The only plant effected was a grape tomato plant in the middle of the garden.
I was spraying carefully about 100 feet away.

Worth

[elight]

Thank you everyone for you replies. My garden is in my backyard, which I just had re-sodded. That involved spraying the old lawn dead. I have no doubt based on your comments that the herbicide drifted to the plants. Guess I didn't time that right. I'm hoping that they bounce back but I'm not terribly optimistic give what I know about how the grass-killing herbicides work.

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[Ricky Shaw]

Three out of five times it's in the soil amendments, this thread shows the other two cases.

[Worth1]

They wont bounce back I can assure you.
Poison ivy yes not tomato plants and other garden edibles.
Even they live they are genetically jacked big time.
I used to poison hardwood timber in the forest for the forest service years ago as a kid.
We used 2,4 D and 2,4,5 T and diesel mixed AKA agent orange.
We used what we called a Jim Jim.
It was a long tube with a blade injector on the bottom and a pump handle.
You would walk through the forest and stab the tree trunk all around it.
If you didn't kill the three the next year you would see some crazy looking leaves growing on these trees.
Hickory was the hardest to kill.
I feel so ticked off at the forest service doing this to grow pines for the big lumber companies.
We killed big hardwood trees 3 feet across and more.
I was 16 I think and one day I said enough I cant do this it is against my values and quit.
That was the beginnings of my hatred towards the US Forest Service what they represent and who they really served.

I was raised up cutting timber and selective logging for pecker wood sawmills.
These jerks let the big companies come in and clear cut the forest after we killed all of the hardwoods.

[oakley]

I did that to myself once also. Then did it on purpose a few times using 'leftovers'.

The previous owners of my home went into assisted living and left a garage shelf of
things i would never use. Rather than just compost my extra seedlings i just potted up
in old recycled red cups i no longer use. Healthy nice ones go to friends and family...
others that are still good and healthy i've experimented on. Like soaking in way too
much food/fert, misted with round-up, shot one with Raid...
Misting with RoundUp is interesting as the top growth is the most tender but gets the
hit first and 'umbrellas' some lower stronger leaves. Slow death. Should have tried
cutting off the top growth with just a fine mist.
An older establish plant might recover if just hit by a mist. The Raid just killed the
soaked leaf. RoundUp is another game all together....

[elight]

FWIW, I got back from a long vacation and finally had time to attend to these plants. I had about 15 plants. Of those, 3 or 4 I just pulled because they had no good growth left (some also due to unrelated disease). Another 3 or 4 showed no signs of damage. The rest had signs of damage on the main stems, but good looking growth on suckers that had developed in the two weeks prior. These are pruned to a single stem, so I removed the main stem above the best-looking sucker on each, leaving the sucker as the new main steam. I'm hopeful that the mild damage didn't spread due to either the very minor nature of the infection or perhaps the particular herbicide that was used. I do believe that some herbicides primarily kill the leaves they are applied to while others penetrate to the roots to kill the plants; maybe I got lucky and this was the former. Time will tell!

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[jtjmartin]

Elight:

Please keep me updated. I think I caused some drift damage to about 6 out of 60 some plants. (I should have kept photos, but) I believe that a couple of those have no sign of damage and are setting fruit. Like you, I'm hoping that the suckers that are coming out straight will remain unaffected.

These are all lean & lower single stem plants so I did plant some replacement plants near them. I thought the healthy replacement plants would also show if I got some contaminated compost.