This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
A tomato question
DiSteve
Posts: 33
in Fruit & veg
Hi all.
I have some tomato plants coming on in my polytunnel. Today I noticed that the leaves have curled, could this be frost damage, we had a light frost last night. I have moved them into the middle of the tunnel, away from the sides and covered them with a fleece.............
Will they recover? 
0
Posts
Leaves curling are a reaction to large temperature changes rather than frost damage as such - that will kill tomatoes and the leaves turn white. The plants may slow down for a bit (known as being 'checked') but will recover. Curling leaves can even happen in summer if it gets too hot during the day and cold at night.
Phew thanks for that. Its good to hear that they will recover, hopefully.
I had a panic this morning with my tomatoes. They are outdoor varieties and have been in a mini-greenhouse for a week or so. Two nights ago it was forecast to go down to 2 degrees, so I put a. sheet of bubble wrap across the top, inside the lid. Next day they seemed fine, but today, after another cold night, they had gone all floppy.
They might have recovered by now if I'd left them, as the temperature is now a sizzling 9 degrees, but to play safe I brought them back into the kitchen, where they perked up within an hour. Looking at the forecast, I think they may be back for another week or more....
Unfortunately mine are not looking good. The problem is they are in a polytunnel on my allotment, so I cannot always go and open the door before I go to work, so they seem to be suffering temperature changes, very warm in the day and very cold at night
Please can someone give me hope?
Yes I could I suppose until temps rise, there are only 5. Do you think they would recover if I did this?
I shall give it a go. Thank you for your advice.