Leaf curl - What causes this?

Gardenboy · December 2, 2016

Is this caused from insects, windblown herbicides, over/under watering? Some of my 3 week old seedlings are showing this leaf curl. I'm using the same potting mix and procedure of transplanting in all my other 40 containers..no problem. Only 3 newly transplanted seedlings. Any info would be helpful.

**carolyn137** · December 2, 2016

If you use the search feature here you'll find many threads about leaf curl..

Here's one which i think addresses most if not all of your questions.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=leaf+curl

Carolyn

ginger2778 · December 2, 2016

I have had this too, so have a few of my S.FL. friends. The Edis ifas article in the last post to the thread Carolyn linked to seems to be correct.

There are 2 other things it could be, one is herbicide damage, the other is a cucumber mosaic virus of tomato. My newer growths coming from the plant base look normal so I let a few of them grow.

Gardenboy · December 2, 2016

Thank U both for your information and links. Should I remove and destroy the 3 seedlings? I have them next to my other tomato plants. Maybe this is something they may outgrow as they mature. Didn't want to keep them if production is going to be limited.

ginger2778 · December 2, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardenboy

Thank U both for your information and links. Should I remove and destroy the 3 seedlings? I have them next to my other tomato plants. Maybe this is something they may outgrow as they mature. Didn't want to keep them if production is going to be limited.

Douglas, this will cut back on your production at least until new growth comes out. I don't think you have to worry about this being contagious, according to the edis ifas article, they couldn't find any virus, they think it is a certain microbe in the soil that interferes with protein synthesis in the plant, but only under certain conditions. Hot and wet are a couple and the last few days have been hot and wet.

maxjohnson · December 3, 2016

Samething happened to me after transplanting mine into cow manure compost that has herbicide in it presumably, when I removed the plants and transplanted them bareroot in completely different soil, and trimming off the curled leaves, some survived and most died. Most of the ones that survived grows normally.

There were a few extras that I threw aside and didn't grew with the compost, those turned out to be all healthy.

December 15, 2016

What varieties are they? Are the unaffected ones a different variety?

I imagine Marsha's probably right. Another thought is a toxicity or deficiency (e.g. too little copper), but if it's the same soil as the others, that seems less likely (unless it's a variety used to different nutrients than the others). Copper deficiency is said to be more common with organic gardening. I don't know, though. It's just a thought.

December 2, 2016	#2
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	If you use the search feature here you'll find many threads about leaf curl.. Here's one which i think addresses most if not all of your questions. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=leaf+curl Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

December 2, 2016	#3
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	I have had this too, so have a few of my S.FL. friends. The Edis ifas article in the last post to the thread Carolyn linked to seems to be correct. There are 2 other things it could be, one is herbicide damage, the other is a cucumber mosaic virus of tomato. My newer growths coming from the plant base look normal so I let a few of them grow.

December 2, 2016	#4
Gardenboy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 784	Thank U both for your information and links. Should I remove and destroy the 3 seedlings? I have them next to my other tomato plants. Maybe this is something they may outgrow as they mature. Didn't want to keep them if production is going to be limited.

December 3, 2016	#6
maxjohnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: OH 6a Posts: 592	Samething happened to me after transplanting mine into cow manure compost that has herbicide in it presumably, when I removed the plants and transplanted them bareroot in completely different soil, and trimming off the curled leaves, some survived and most died. Most of the ones that survived grows normally. There were a few extras that I threw aside and didn't grew with the compost, those turned out to be all healthy.

December 15, 2016	#7
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	What varieties are they? Are the unaffected ones a different variety? I imagine Marsha's probably right. Another thought is a toxicity or deficiency (e.g. too little copper), but if it's the same soil as the others, that seems less likely (unless it's a variety used to different nutrients than the others). Copper deficiency is said to be more common with organic gardening. I don't know, though. It's just a thought.