When did you take the picture?

I notice that when I look at my tomatoes late in the evening, the tops are curly, as are the leaves. They straighten out overnight and look a lot better in the morning! I think the baking hot temperatures are to blame!

Linda

Yea I agree with Linda.. Apart from the leaf roll (probably just environmental stress - clears itself most times) the plant looks healthy.. I'm not sure if you have experience with the variety that you're growing but some have more wispy and curly foliage, most apparent with newer growth; Bread & Salt and Casady's Folly are similar, just to name a few.

Edit: Are you growing in straight compost?

If you are growing them in a bag of pure compost that will probably have a lot to do with the "why".

Why? So many people are quick to say that the nutrients in compost are negligible so why would it be a problem to grow a tomato in pure compost?

Linda

I haven't changed the way I grow them and used to get cracking plants. But the last 2 years they have struggled to even fruit

having placing them into bags I've noticed the rooting system isn't very good

And yes they are in compost but they are every year I grow them

"If you are growing them in a bag of pure compost that will probably have a lot to do with the "why"

I agree but not because of nutrient issues - though it does lack necessary minerals and is low in nutrients. But that is easy to fix with supplements.

But because of drainage /water retention problems and rooting issues. For the very same reasons growing in straight compost in a bed has never been recommended. Gardeners as far back as the 19th Century recognized that excessive amounts of compost in their soil caused weak root development, compromised circulation, media composition that ranged from muck to dry, and instability in plants.

You may have had "success" in the past but that is a relative concept as you have no basis for comparison as to how they would have done in a mixed media.

And not all compost is created equal - especially bagged composts.

Dave

Precisely as Dave and Gorbelly said.. Compost alone will lack the aeration required for the plant to thrive.. In the future try something like equal parts compost, double ground bark mulch and silica (or pea gravel).

To reiterate what's been said, compost is an amendment, not a soil. Compost is optional. This is especially true in a container, which is a somewhat closed biological system. Try a good commercial potting soil, and then throw some compost in along with it.

One more thing - when you purchase a soil medium for your pots, make sure it is potting soil, not garden soil. It's a common mix-up. Like compost, garden soil is an amendment for your garden rather than a complete soil for containers.