It would help us if you could post images, mainly because "curling" means various things to various people.

I worry it is the manure. last year I got what i was told was aged horse manure -my first time using it, and unfortunately it was too fresh. I worked it in the top 3-4 inches. The tops curled just as you describe. I ended up getting no tomatoes at all and had a very disappointing season.
i hope i'm wrong. good luck.

I have a couple of varieties and every once in a while the lower branches leaves curl lengthwise like a scroll. Then they unravel a day or so later. Sometimes I think its overwatering, maybe nutrients deficiency, dunno. I do know that the plants are healthy and producing. Now, I wait and watch to see what happens before I try to fix it. For me patience was hard to learn cause I hold on too tight to the promise of a harvest, I want it soo bad!!!lol! Now I am a Jedi gardener, patience I have!!!!lol!

I do not have pics of my tomato plants but they look very much like this one:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.kane10/tomato_close_up.jpg

Severe curling lengthwise of the leaves. The plant seems to still be growing but all new leaves are curling. At least half of the plant is curled. I have new blooms too but no new fruit.

The picture link you posted looks like herbicide damage.

dlanicek,

I'm not in the "herbicide damage" camp. Although, I agree the damage looks like it. However, because it's not happening to all your tomato plants, it sounds off the mark.

What you describe is exactly what I'm seeing too. In one of my beds I have 13 gorgeous 3' - 5' tomato plants. In another row I have 4 newer plants (about 1' tall above soil). These 4 have leaf curl exactly like the picture you posted. Yet again, one row over another 1' tall newer plant that looks great.

What's up with that?

If it was herbicide I would see wider spread damage in all the tomatoes. If it was a soil problem, I'd see that too in all the tomatoes. I would also see the soil problem in my extremely healthy non-tomato plants growing in the same bed.

This is really puzzling. I so appreciate all the brainstorming of the members here. I've been combing through the archives of this forum for answers.

I'll keep combing. If I find something useful I'll post it/reference it.

I get a bit of leaf curl sometimes also. But I attribute my own maybe to windburn.

My plants are thriving quite well and look very good despite the occasional curl.

Google 'tomato leaf roll' and compare the pictures of it to your plants as a possible explanation for the problem.

Dave

Tomato leaf curling or rolling, is usually a psychological disorder, and is quite common,- I have about six to eight plants that have done it this year out of about 120.

The main cause appears to be the vast difference in day and night temps and a slightly high nitrogen content of the potting mix, as soon as the two temps get closer together with warmer night temps of around 60 to 65F you will see a difference and they will begin to un-curl again and grow normally.
However- all plants that have been effected by it will be stunted and smaller than other tomatoes whilst they have this problem, simply because the leaves cannot expose their full leaf surface to the light and sun and carry out the very necessary photosynthesis to produce their own food,

It can be helped a bit if you give them a dose of liquid trace elements, or failing that a strong dose of seaweed liquid feed-no nitrogen.-once the leaves un-roll a bit normal growth will start up again.