Tomato Leaf Curl

[SarzWix]

That's because they're 'Tumbling' tomatoes Vjay It means they're determinate plants (they 'stop' after one truss), and have to branch out to get any crop.

[Alison]

I've always been told a 5 branch tomatoe plant is best, and to remove the shoot which appears between the stem and the branch. If you don't remove that shoot the plant won't mature to its full potential. This might have something to do with your leaf curling as the plant in the picture looks to have alot of stems and leaves in such a short plant.

It depends on the type of tomato, you are correct for indeterminate plants which grow as a vine eg Gardeners Delight etc but basket toms are bush plants otherwise known as determinates and should not be pinched out at all.

[VJay]

you learn something every day

[TallGirl]

This is brilliant to know, looks just like what my Pomodorino seedlings are doing. Fingers crossed they might not all die after all!

[Nykied]

Looks like what some of my tom plants are doing too. When I tried to repot one about a month ago, it hardly had any roots at all, so this sounds like the most likely explanation for mine.

My pseudo-tomato plant which I have grown from seed (the seed came out of the tomato packet but it doesn't look anything like the others and is twice as tall) is fine though...

[Phyllis Smith]

I'm seeing leaf curl on all of my pot-grown tomatoes, Harbinger, Beef Steak, Tumbling Tom, and Money Maker. The Harbinger was grown from seed, and was potted out last, and when I looked at the bottom of the pot, I could see roots coming out. I hope that's good news. I've heard that pot-grown plants dry out very quickly, so we're watering the tomatoes a lot--twice a day when it's hot & dry, which it has been for most of the summer, so far, in the Northwest of England. I did something this year that may be quirky & also may be problematic---I read that companion planting marigolds near tomatoes helps to keep down the black fly, so I planted a marigold in each tomato pot. Maybe I'm crowding the tomato roots with marigold roots? Haven't seen much black fly, I am happy to report. We're getting lots of blooms, and starting to see quite a few little tomatoes coming on, so I'm hopeful. Our Tumbling Toms are in one of those growing bags with the holes in the front, and were started from plugs. They're covered with blooms & little tomatoes. I use watering spikes to get water down into their roots.

[bramble]

Phyllis, you're not doing anything wrong by planting a marigold in the tomato plant pots. I do this every year and it is said to keep WHITE fly away. I too am watering a couple of times daily with this heat.
Sounds like all is going right for you, so keep doing what you have been doing and you will be picking your toms before you know it.

[kate&rob]

i've been seeing leaf curl on mine too. flowers have developed and a few have set so far so i'm just keeping my fingers crossed. good to know i'm not the only one though.