This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Tomatoes
CLER
Posts: 56
in Fruit & veg
Anyone know why my tomato plants (outdoor ) have leaves that are curling. it's not the dreaded blight is it ?
0
Posts
It won't be blight - that's horrid blotches on the stems and leaves.
Can you post us a picture of them so we can see how they're curling ?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Leaf curling is usually down to draughts (assuming soil/water is ok)- don't think it'll do much damage, but if there's some sort of windbreak you can provide will help.
Plants by the greenhouse door often curl when the doors are open
Good luck!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
they should be fine mine seem to always go through it at early stages but they come good don't worry
Yeah mine have started doing it, i'm assuming its weather related, thunderstorms followed by blazing sun and back again.
Tomato leaves usually curl because of temperature fluctuations.
However, if tomato leaves roll inwards from the sides to the centre, this is usually due to over-watering.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
sometimes they curl because they're happy!
That must be it ......they are happy!! Perhaps they have feelings like the crayfish !!!Thanks Welshonion
How often should tomatoe plants and cucumber plants b watered some of my tomatoe leaves r curling others aren't I live in Cornwall some plants r in the ground some in pots all in greenhouses I water most nights can anyone advise this is my first time of growing them
Sounds like you're definitely overwatering, Irene, which - as Dove says - will cause leaf curl. I responded to your question on Simon's thread.
For toms in the ground, the rule of thumb is to water infrequently but deeply. This sends the roots deeper into the soil. Frequent shallow watering only keeps the roots hanging around the surface. As an example, mine are in the ground, the temps are now into the mid-high 20s, and I'm not watering more than once a week. But when I do water it's deeply.
For toms in pots, the mix should not be permanently damp. Few plants like constantly damp feet and toms aren't one of them. You can afford to let the mix dry out between waterings. And when you do water, water deeply.
As an overall rule of thumb, toms thrive on "tough love". Or, in other words, controlled neglect. A tom produces fruit in order to reproduce itself before it expires and your basic aim is to create an environment in which the plant feels a tad threatened, encouraging it to reproduce. An overwatered, overfertilised plant doesn't feel threatened, just bloated. In short, less of everything is better.