Here's another picture. I didn't know how to put them in the same post.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Are they exposed to sun? If so were they hardened off?

Looks to me like Sunburn, or some other "shock".

Curling usually means they're being stressed, and it can be caused by a lot of things.

Overwatering is a possibility. Insufficient soil aeration is another. Do you have adequate drainage holes in those cups? That would provide for both. Putting the holes on the sides at the bottom provides the soil with more aeration than if the holes are on the bottom of the container.

But I suspect the biggest stressor is that they should be transplanted into larger containers, that the root system is just too large for those cups.

They need fertilizer.

They need bigger pots.

Or better yet, put them into the ground if possible. Rig temporary protection if needed.

Hi, I'm a newbie also and just joined. I planted Celebs that had been hardened off (or so I thought) into raised beds at a Community Garden (this is our first Year). My fiancee and I are keeping our "expectations low" as we don't have a lot of experience.

Well, My Celebs did the same thing for about a month...they would curl up, then recover, then curl up. Now, six weeks later, they are huge and already starting to blossom.

Here's what we "did". (And please, by no means am I an expert!)

1. Went from watering initially every day for about the first week, to every 2-3 days. I do a "soil check" in the beds about 2-3 inches down, if the soil is really damp then I water on the 3rd day, not the second.

2. Fish emulsion: Our plants had purple stems/branches, so we used fish emulsion following the directions. The purpling went away.

3. Soil treatment: I treated the soil around each plant with 1/4 cup powdered milk and 1/4 cup epsom salt. Worked it into the top 2-3 inches of the soil. I had read that this helps even out, Magnesium and Calcium deficiencies.

4. Now that the plants are blossoming, I am slowing down the Nitrogen and re-adding powdered milk to the soil near each plant every 2 weeks.

5. We will be adding a top layer mulch called "Bumper Crop" to the plants this weekend. I have heard from other Community Gardeners that it's really a catch-all, and will push enough nutrients into my tom beds for the Season.

6. And, like I said, keeping expectations low, this is a new Hobby that I tend on keeping for the rest of my life, so I am being realistic and know that my first Year or two might be rough! :)

This worked for me, so I am thinking, your plants might be stressed/over watered, nutrient imbalanced like ours were. We almost pulled them up, but my fiancee said to "wait", and sure enough, in the fourth week, they started growing taller and putting out suckers/new branches!

Also, if they're root-bound, that might also be an issue...

Cheers!

Tomato leaf roll - the name of the condition you are seeing in your plants - is a fairly common physiological response of the plant to stress. It is rolling its leaves up to decrease the exposed surface area just as we might curl up into the fetal position in times of stress and/or pain.

Searching 'tomato leaf roll' will get you many discussions here on it as well as lots of web info. As Anney and Jean said above, the cause of that stress can be any number of things: too much water is common, insufficient nutrients, excess N, root-bound in a too small container, pests, etc. etc.

ID and eliminate the stress and the problem goes away with no permanent damage to the plant.

In this case I agree that the plants are too large for their containers, need badly to be transplanted, and are anemic and need to be fed - but only after being transplanted first.;) If they can't go into the ground yet, just get them into bigger and dark colored cups. They will be fine.

I would also add (for future ref) that the use of the clear cups makes the problem worse as roots are photonegative - hate light exposure. Leaves love it - roots hate it. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Leaf Roll

Thank you for the comments. I don't think the problem is sunburn, as the "leaf roll" also occured while I had them inside. I did harden them off, and bring them indoors when the temps were too cool. Soil aeration could be a possibility as well as too much nitrogen. I transplanted them from small cups (seed starting mix) to the larger cups using Miracle Gro Potting Mix. I've seen mentioned somewhere here that this mix is quite high in nitrogen?
I'll get them into the ground tomorrow and cross my fingers. I never thought about clear cups being an issue, but it makes perfect sense. My husband's tomatoes are the only healthy looking plants - the only difference to care was that he planted his in dark conatiners.
Thanks again!
Cheri

Yea...I agree with the others...some type of shock. Pot them up & give them a water-based shot of fertilizer. Then, when you continue hardening them off, do it slowly over time.

Leaf roll. Transplant them soon. In the future don't add so much stuff to your soil. Seedlings don't need all that. When they were turning purple it probably had more to do with cool temperatures than a deficiency in the soil.

Good luck.

Randy