curling tomato leaves

[greenwitch]

Hello all.

I was given a tom plant about 6 weeks ago, im not sure what type it is, all i know is the toms will be normal size not cherry and its a cardon variety. the plant is growing rapidly its about 2-3 foot tall and it got its first flowers just forming on the top of the plant, the leaves are big but the top few sets are curled up while the bottom ones are fine am i doing something wrong or is this normal?

Thankyou for reading my q

Greenwitch
xxx

[SarzWix]

Not to worry, this quite often happens and the leaves will usually unfurl as the plant gets bigger. There's been suggestions that it might be down to the plant being too hot at some point, or too cold, or too dry, but in the end, they're usually just fine

[taff]

If they're just a bit floppy and curled over, that's fine.
If they are curled over and looking really limp, it may need watering.

[Flummery]

Hi Greenwitch, welcome. If you could put your location in your user profile it would help. You don't say if it's outside, in a greenhouse, in your house. The reason I ask is because it could be due to the plant feeling the cold a bit. Having said that, some tomatoes do seem to get curling in the leaf as they grow older. As long as the leaves are a good colour and the flowers are forming it should be ok. When the first little fruits set it's a good idea to add a little tomato food to the watering can. The bottle will tell you how much. Best of luck!

[Edwardo82]

Yes my Sweet Olive Tom's have curled ever so slightly on some of the top leafs.

Initially I was a little concerned but the plant looks healthy and is forming fruit so I thought it was quite normal. They are in a greenhouse and it has been quite warm in there and I have not let the temp change too much at night, I have now made sure the ventilation is better in the greenhouse.

They can be grown outside but I am still worried about them, the temp was alot cooler last night with very clear skys.

I will be giving them a feed this weekend to help with the forming of fruit.

[wellie]

At the risk of seeming to know what I'm talking about, I'm going to stick my neck out on this one.....

I was always told by so called 'experts' that leaf curling was to do with the temperature that tomato plants were grown at, and that if they dipped below 10c - ooh, you'd sinned, the tomato plants wouldn't produce proply, and you wouldn't go to heaven.

Well - that might be true....
But I'm more inclined to believe that the leaf-curling is triggered by the set of the first fruiting 'truss', because every single year that I've grown tomatoes now, the leaf-curling thing only occurs when the first or second truss happens.

So, once again. Don't be hoodwinked into believing what people write on the tin children.
Things COULD be right, and then again they COULD be wrong.
You'll get a feel for your own plot in time, and that's what's more important.

It would be interesting to know if any of you do notice leaf-curl at the set of first or second Truss, as we could start an experimental survey maybe?
X

[rana]

My experience is similar to that of Wellie. Any plants at the one to two truss stage that have been potted on to their final (flower bucket) pots get leaf curl. Those root bound plants still in small pots remain unaffected as do those planted outside in the veg plot.

I have always assumed it is a response to the new roots hitting high nutrient levels in the final compost (I make up a mix of MPC, garden compost and leaf mold beefed up with a good dose of growmore granules) particularly as the phenomenon usually occurs about 10 days after the final potting up. The growth rate is speeding and the plants look fresh and healthy and I know they grow through the leaf curl without a problem.

I am not convinced by the temperature arguments - considering the range on locations this is occuring in, but am interested to see what other theories are proposed.

[Oleander]

I am growing outside toms, the same variety and in the same place as last year. No leaf curl last year, but it seems to be happening this year. I don't believe that there has been a huge difference in temperature extremes or in other conditions except ....... this year I put some organic fertiliser granules in each "pot hole" when planting. This would seem to uphold Rana's theory about the new roots hitting higher nutrient levels.

Otherwise the plants are looking really healthy and growing well, with 2 or 3 flower trusses on each.

[greenwitch]

Thanks everyone for your advice, i have one flower truss on and it does seem to have been since this started to develop, my tom plants are in my conservatory, think i may feed them a bit more see if that helps. i shall let you know how it gos or grows so to speak.
Greenwitch
xxx

[Alice]

Don't worry Greenwitch. Tomatoes are like sulky children. They roll their leaves if they're not happy about something - but it's not always obvious what they're not happy about. But they go on to fruit in a perfectly normal manner, so if your convinced they're not too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry, just let them sulk and look forward to the fruits.

[rana]

Thanks Alice for a convincing explanation. I was never aware that tomatoes could sulk.

[macca]

does it matter if the tomatoes are grown in growbags, large pots with regular compost or in the ground, indoor or outdoor? just never had leaf curl before and we used much more home made compost this time

[ToniD]

Yes my Sweet Olive Tom's have curled ever so slightly on some of the top leafs.

Initially I was a little concerned but the plant looks healthy and is forming fruit so I thought it was quite normal. They are in a greenhouse and it has been quite warm in there and I have not let the temp change too much at night, I have now made sure the ventilation is better in the greenhouse.

They can be grown outside but I am still worried about them, the temp was alot cooler last night with very clear skys.

I will be giving them a feed this weekend to help with the forming of fruit.

My Sweet Olives are doing the same, in a polytunnel full of other toms they are the only one's to do that?

[Thelma Sanders]

I was told that this happens when there is a big difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, which is what we often get at this time of year - specially if they're in a greenhouse

It was what was happening to my toms .....30oddC during the day and then 12C at night! and they have gone curly at the tops.
This weekend they've been cold all the time - so they might sulk about that as well

[Chef_uk]

I've noticed with mine, alone with the curly tops, that around the time of the heatwave we had, my stems looked to have split in to two and carried on growing. Its definitely not an armpit or a truss, the stem has literally divided. Not too sure what to do about it now lol both have produced flowers in the same place. Very weird.