What's the cause and cure for tomato leaf roll? The affected plants otherwise look very healthy and bearing lots of large (presently green) fruit. I live in southeast Michigan. Regards, Peter.

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Leaf Roll is a physiological problem that can afflict plants early in the season when root and vegetative mass are out of balance. It's self correcting and as the plants mature it goes away.

Leaf Curl, on the other hand, is different. Leaves will curl when stressed as in too hot, too cold, too dry or too wet, and the leaves of most modern hybrids have leaves that curl normally. A heavy fruit burden is also a stress and that will cause leaves to curl as well.

If the leaves curl over into a tube like structure than check for aphids.

I ignore leaf curl unless other symptoms appear.

Carolyn

Carolyn: thank you; your heavy crop possibility fits my case. Regards, Peter.

Can you describe leaf 'curl' vs leaf 'roll'. I have on my tomato plant what I call furled leaves - they are curled up inward. Is that leaf curl? If so, how do I determine which of the conditions mentioned is the cause?

thank you,
ellen

Can you describe leaf 'curl' vs leaf 'roll'. I have on my tomato plant what I call furled leaves - they are curled up inward. Is that leaf curl? If so, how do I determine which of the conditions mentioned is the cause?

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Ellen, the way I look at it it's the timing of the appearance of curled leaves. And what's called Leaf Roll has been interpreted by some as plain ole leaf curling, and when leaves curl over into a tube like structure they call it Leaf Roll.

But the definition of Leaf Roll, as you'll discover if you do a bit of Googling, is that it appears early in the season when plants are young, for the reason I gave above, and it disappears as the plants mature.

On the other hand leaf curl is more environmental rather than there being an imbalance of root and vegetative mass.

As I think I said above, I ignore all of it, LOL, unless further symptoms appear that might indicate a disease problem.

Does that help?

Carolyn