Curly tomato foliage on some plants but not all

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JoParrott Richland, WA(Zone 7b) Jul 06, 2023

I am growing several tomatoes this tear, and many, but not all have skinny curled leaves- I know ut isn't herbicide damage- my neighbors have the problem also.

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ZilyZily Castro Valley, CA Jul 06, 2023

I had no idea but googled it and it seems it is can happen from several things.

https://ipm.missouri.edu/MEG/2019/7/tomatoLeafCurl/

https://www.homesteadingwhereyouare.com/2023/03/12/reasons-for-tomato-leaves-curling-up/


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Debbiegrows Sedona, United States Jul 07, 2023

Hi JoParrott, I just joined DG today because I just had 2 tomato plants die a very bizarre death and I was hoping someone here might have some idea what happened because I can't find anything online that even comes close to my dilemma. I will probably post my question in another day or two. Anyway,
The website that ZilyZily posted from Missouri Univ. is spot on and seems to cover all the bases. It's usually physiological problem caused by a list of things they mention. Go down the list and see what you find.
I've been growing for 12 years in screaming hot and dry Sedona, Az. High desert country. It's really hard to grow here but it is possible. The first few years all my tomato plants looked like yours. I usually grow 50-60 plants each year. I often wondered if I had 'curly top' virus. Then one year I had a row that was half in the sun and half in the shade and the difference was amazing. The ones in the sun still looked like your but the ones in the shade were so much healthier, greener, bigger and had almost no leaf roll. It was all about the environment. So, for many years now I have been adding more trees and shrubs to give everything shade! The difference is spectacular! But as the article says you could have a problem with moisture etc.
This year I am totally sure that my 'Purple Cherokees' got 'curly leaf' virus. Planted my row of 10 pretty seedlings, all healthy and happy. Growing great. 2 weeks later 3 of them looked like your but they kept getting much worse and died after about 2 weeks. Then the 2 next to those went down too. Two more are dying now. So I researched 'Curly leaf' in Arizona. Here it is spread by leafhoppers. Wow, for the last 3 years my yard has been full of what I thought were grasshoppers but apparently there were lots of leafhoppers here too. One website (can't remember which one) gave me a bit more info. Said they prefer beets but often feed on tomatoes. And it gave a list of their host plants. Well, half of the list are all the weeds that cover Arizona! Go figure. It also said that only the young plants will look like that and die quickly but that more mature plants will still look good but will stop growing and producing if they get infected. I still have 3 left that are about 3 feet tall and gorgeous and I am hoping they don't have the virus and produce for me.
Anyway, hope this helps you. Happy gardening everyone.
Debbie

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