Tomatoes, although we grow them with the greatest love and care, sometimes can torment a lot. One of the mysterious phenomena that many gardeners can scare is twisted leaves.
Is it a sign of an upcoming disaster, or just a momentary condition that the plant soon “breaks off”? The question of whether the plant is worth growing in this way, it is logically available.
YouTub video by the author of the garden for pleasure will also reveal more:
The cause is to find out
Of course, twisted leaves say that something is wrong with the plant. However, there may be several causes, so it is necessary to find out where the origin of such a condition is. Only then can we decide on her further fate, or to really effectively take care of the remedy. Some states are truly transient and adjusting the conditions will be enough, but at other times they mean a definitive stopwatch.
Stressed tomatoes …
One of the possible causes of twisting the leaves in tomatoes may simply be stress from the environment. Tomatoes can be exposed to too strong the sun, they may feel a lack of water, or are exposed to high temperature fluctuations. This happens, for example, soon after the transplanting of “spoiled” seedlings into free soil at a time when the temperatures are already rising to the level of the summer, but at night the thermometer hardly rises a few degrees above zero. The problem can be in strong winds, where the tomatoes then respond to such changes by curing the leaves, thus minimizing the possibility of evaporation of water.
Balanced nutrition is the foundation
Can you really fertilize tomatoes? If you are not quite sure, you should consult an expert or educational literature again. In the case of twisting the leaves, it can be a link with a shortage or excess of some elements. For example, the filly leaf rollers will most likely be caused by a lack of phosphorus, yellowed edges of the twisted leaves are a problem with potassium, and extraordinarily dark twisted leaves give a clear report on the excess of nitrogen. What is most important in this case? Patience and balance of fertilization. Plants are likely to return to normal over time as soon as the ratio and supplies of the above -mentioned elements are corrected.
Beware of herbicides
Let us also remember that tomatoes are significantly sensitive to any herbicides. Quite enough, we try to destroy the weeds around them with the help of chemistry. Even the slightest amount of some herbicides can cause a strong deformation of the leaves in tomatoes. If the leaves twist only on a plant, or at the edge of the flower bed, be sure if you have not interfered in those places against the weeds. Even the effect of evaporated chemicals is sufficient. If this happened, it is most likely to recover from the tomato, but you don’t really risk another similar step near it.
Virosis means the end of the whole plant
All the problems described can usually be corrected and keep the plant in the garden. However, there is a bigger problem when a viral disease, such as yellow curl of tomatoes, is responsible for twisting the leaves. In this case, the leaves will usually twist up and at the same time observe that they are thickened and fragile. This is a moment when there is no time for regret and mercy. We will not help this plant and leaving in the garden could mean infection of others. As with other viruses or other diseases of infected plants, it must not come to compost, but to the garbage.
Do not hang your head and look for a reason
So the next time you see tomato with twisted leaves, do not despair over the worst possible scenario. It is always more likely that everything can be repaired. On the other hand, nothing can be underestimated. In some cases, gardening resembles the work of a private detective…
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