what's wrong with my tomatoes?

10 years ago

Upstate SC. Have grown tomatoes many times over the last 30 years, always end up with "tomato trees"... plants taller than me with helacious bounty of fruit. Never really worried about it. Pretty simple... dig some holes, throw some plants in the ground with black soil from leaf compost, add water & Miracle Gro... boom. That's all there is to it.

Not so this year. Have a couple of plants that look wimpy and the leaves are "curling" for lack of a better term. Not sure if I need to jerk them out and start over, or they will be fine eventually. Looking for advice/help, any comments are welcome. Pics below. Normal plant on left, wimpy on right:

Wimpy plant with with curled leaves:

Closeups of curled leaves:

Any idea what is going on??? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Featured Answer

ncrealestateguy

10 years ago

Don't mind Yuan.

Your plants are affected by the Roundup. Yank them up and start over. I am speaking from experience. Even if you prune out the curled leaves, the new leaves will be affected, even late into the season. Plants will not produce fruit normally. Tomatoes are extremely sensitive herbicide. Just this year, I sprayed some weeds near my driveway. Two days later, I bought home a Cherokee Purple plant and accidentally placed it about two inches away from the sprayed weed. Later that day, I went to get the tomato plant, and the leaves were already distorted and the tell tale sign of the variegation was even starting! All this from just the fumes of the herbicide... no direct contact with spray or drift.

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Comments (13)

Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
10 years ago
I see some problem with the new growth.

Have you used any herbicide around your property ?

Sey
Syd Barrett thanked Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
Syd Barrett
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes. When they had been in the ground about a week, I covered the tomato plants with plastic bags and used roundup to kill surrounding grass. Made sure no contact with tomato plants. They're about a month old now. Possible contamination from roundup? I thought roundup was safe as long as it didn't touch/transfer onto desirable plants...?
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Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
10 years ago
That explains my suspicion.

It is not just direct contact / spray that cause this problem even some small drift can affect tomato plants.

Sey
Syd Barrett thanked Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
10 years ago
Why are your plants so close together...
Syd Barrett thanked Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Syd Barrett
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Sey... I wondered about that, but the bottom leaves showed no effect, the ones that were actively growing at the time of spraying roundup. It's the new growth that is "curling" several weeks later. You're saying that could cause it? Thanks by the way for your input, I appreciate it. And what now - pinch off the curled leaves and they will rebound, or jerk those up and start over? What do you think.
Syd Barrett
Original Author
10 years ago
"Why are your plants so close together..."

I don't know, they're 3 or 4 ft apart, like I always do. Too close maybe?
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
10 years ago
I honestly think tomatoes should grow like watermelon.
Syd Barrett thanked Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
fireduck
10 years ago
Your plants are fine 3-4 feet apart. I would prune out the curled growth...and stick with what you have. I think they will grow through the problem. It does look unusual to see that tight curling on new growth. It is not the usual physiological damage we normally see from things like waterlogged plants.
Syd Barrett thanked fireduck
antipodean
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
3 to 4 foot apart is fine. not sure about the curling, could be some herbicide drift.
Syd Barrett thanked antipodean
Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
10 years ago
Usually Roundup will cause yellowing of new growth. Your damage is more consistent with 2,4-D damage. Are you sure nobody didn't use "Weed N Feed" on adjacent lawn or add compost from unknown source?

Regardless plants will probably not do well but the issue is important for replacement plants since Roundup has no residual whereas 2,4-D does have residual and may require excavation of soil prior to replanting.
Syd Barrett thanked Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
digdirt2
10 years ago
The simple solution in the future is you never use any herbicide around tomato plants as they are especially vulnerable to it. And it always shows up in the new growth. As barrie said, different herbicide present with different symptoms but in the end it makes little difference as the plants are systemically affected and compromised.

And I agree that your plant spacing is perfectly normal so please ignore the irrelevant comments made above. Irrelevant comments is a practice of that particular poster.

Dave
Syd Barrett thanked digdirt2
Syd Barrett
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow. Sincere thanks and gratitude to all who replied. Really amazed that this post garnered such good advice and comments so quickly. I will definitely remember this forum and tap into such a knowledgeable and helpful bunch of folks whenever I have questions in the future...

So, consensus opinion is I screwed the pooch when I applied Roundup, and probably best to remove the 2-3 plants that are showing symptoms and put in new ones. Also with new soil, just to make sure it is not contaminated somehow. That's what I will do. Thanks again, everybody.