Tomato plants - leaves (and some fruit) suddenly curled and discoloured... Help!
January Man
Posts: 212
Hi all
Our tomatoes are about the only thing that have been doing well this year.... Up until now that is.....
On inspection 2 days ago (Sunday) all seemed well and dandy. Yesterday (Monday) I forgot to open the greenhouse before leaving for work and it therefore remained closed until 3pm. I opened it then and it was obviously VERY hot in there. One of the plants was wilting but the others all looked ok. Compost a little dry, but left it until the evening to water.
This morning I've opened it up and most of the plants have wilting/curling leaves with discolouration. One or two green tomatoes have been affected but the rest are ok. All are still green at the moment.
Here's a pic of how things looked on Sunday:
And here are some pics of the problem as it is this morning:
If anyone can offer any advice as to what the problem is and what we need to do, I'd really really appreciate it.
Many thanks
Max
Posts
they've got too hot and you've effectively cooked the leaves, tomatoes really don't like temps above about 25 degrees.
in this weather I'd be leaving the door open at night as well as during the day, only when night time temps drop below 15 degrees do you need to be shutting it up again.
this will also help with any mould problems that toms can pick up as giving them a good airing is good practice.
Last edited: 19 July 2016 10:24:57
that would be because of the heat. just keep it watered and aired specially today. no harm in snipping off those leaves at the stem if they have no trusses attached
Thanks so much for the quick replies. It does feel like a bit of an emergency so your urgency is much appreciated!!!
Before posting I looked up briefly on line as to what the problem might be and feared that it might be tomato wilt or some kind of fungal disease. I was worried because if it is something like that I read that there would be no hope, and that it spreads alarmingly quickly.
Do you think it's possible it could be something like that? Or is it looking like it is definitely just that they got to hot.
Happy to upload more photos if it would help diagnose.
Many thanks once again.
It does look like you have cooked the Tom plants so to speak. Also you seem to have quite a lot in a small space you need them to have enough room for the air flow or they will get mildew etc and I agree while the temperature is quite hot leave it open at night as well.
hi max3 are all toms indoor or out it looks a bit crowed in there and as mr mahonia says take a good few leaves of base where no trusses on my toms have no leaves at all on bottom it lets cool air get to the plant and fruits and yes it is to hot as treehugger 80 says I have 14 plants in my g/h now it is 10x8 a few plants on 2 shelves I leave door open all day and go back to garden at 5pm and shut up leave a few windows open where no one can get in .. when it is hot when I go home I throw a couple buckets on floor to cool down
michael
i think you mean blight or viral leaf curl but it's definately not those. given the circumstances it is most definately caused by the heat and maybe irregular watering
Well, while I've been a gardening fool and looks like I've made some school boy errors, it's great news that it is not something that's going to wipe out the plants completely. Which is what I feared this morning....
RE overcrowding. What I've been doing most days - especially if it is hot - is moving all of the plants in the middle row out during the day to create more space (to help circulation), but also so that I can get to them to water, feed, etc! Then I pop them back in at night and shut the door. I'll keep the door open overnight for the time being and any time it is warm/hot over night. But should I put that central row back in at night time, or should I leave some outside permanently?
Thanks for the other tips and for the great help. I'll get on it right away.
to be honest depending where you are you can leave them outside in a sunny spot fresh air is good for plants. but the birds might help themsevles
i will add ive not had a problem with birds but i know some have
hi max3dont think of it as gardening fool or school boy errors we all me included make mistakes I have been gardening for 50yrs and I still learn . if you can and any are outdoor toms can you not leave some outside I have about 8 outside now never had any bother I have a few large black trays bigger than the grow bags and I put 3 on each tray ..as I said earler take some of lower leaves to improve airflow good luck max Michael