You can't beat the taste of tomatoes that you have grown yourself in your own garden. For me, this is the most rewarding thing to grow in my garden as nothing I can buy in the grocery store can come close.
Fortunately, tomatoes are also rather easy to grow (at least in my experience) and once established they are quite hardy. But there are also various pests, diseases, and other issues they can succumb to — like the tomato leaves suddenly starting to curl up.
There are multiple reasons that this can happen to your tomato plants, so let's find out how to diagnose and treat this common problem before it becomes a bigger issue.
The leaves curling up may affect only part of the plant, or the entire plant, but it's a visible sign that your tomato plant isn't happy.
Today, we're going to look at 9 of the most common reasons as to why this happens to your tomato plant.
Once you have identified what the issue is, you can tackle the problem, and return your plant to its happy, healthy self.
Overexposure To The Sun or Heat
First up on the list of reasons as to why your tomato leaves are curling in on themselves is purely down to the environment that your plant is living in.
If your plant has been exposed to too much sun or heat, this can cause the leaves to start to curl on themselves to try to protect themselves.
Even though plants need sunlight to stay happy, and tomatoes love sun and heat, it's important to remember that they don't like too much of it either.
Direct contact with the sun's rays and a heatwave can actually burn the leaves, causing issues like heat stress.
The curled leaves are a sign that your plant is distressed and needs to be moved out of the direct sunlight.
Hot weather can also be a cause of stress for your tomato plant.
Other environmental factors such as excessive amounts of wind can cause your plant to curl its leaves in an attempt to protect itself.
If you've noticed that your plant only does this when its environment changes slightly, there's no need to panic.
It will go back to normal once the weather conditions have changed again.
Wind & Other Environmental Factors
Blowing wind and dust can cause damage to your plants and make the leaves curl up.
Be careful of where you plant your tomatoes, harden of the started seedlings properly, and try to create natural wind blocks if you can.
Even a stack of cheap straw bales can work.
Reduced Water Intake
Another common reason why the leaves on tomato plants start to curl up is because of a lack of water.
While your tomato roots won't like excess water hanging around, they will still need plenty of water to keep the plant happy.
Especially if it has started to bear fruit!
Fruit production takes up a lot of energy and requires a lot of water intake, so you will need to ensure that your plant has everything it needs to get a bumper crop.
It will be essential to implement a proper watering schedule to avoid these watering issues.
You should monitor the soil moisture levels around your potted tomato plant so that it can stay happy and healthy.
The ideal amount of water to give your tomato plant is roughly 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
If you are growing your tomato plant in pots or other types of containers, they will need a lot more water.
Remember that if the weather is hot, the likelihood of water loss will increase, so you will need to keep on top of this.
Deficiency In Micronutrients
In order for your tomato plant to stay happy and healthy, it will need to have the right level of nutrients in place.
If your tomato plant isn't getting its proper fill of micronutrients around the roots, this can cause the leaves to curl up.
You may even notice yellow leaves on your tomato plant if a micronutrient deficiency is occurring.
To make sure that your tomato plant has enough key nutrients to prevent these yellow leaves, you can give it a bit of help.
You can add fresh compost around the roots of your tomato plants.
This should have enough of the key nutrients your plant needs to stay happy and healthy and will prevent those yellow leaves from happening in the future.
Another method you can use is to choose an organic all-purpose fertilizer.
This will have all the micronutrients that your plant needs and will give it a boost to reverse those yellow leaves.
If you are selecting to plant your tomatoes in your physical garden rather than in pots, this could be why those yellow leaves are showing.
You will need to cycle through the plots of land that you use for growing crops after each growing season.
This is because with each crop that grows, the plot of land becomes depleted of essential micronutrients needed to keep plants happy.
Signs Of Disease
Have you noticed that your tomato leaves are growing in what appears to be a wiry pattern, leaving the small leaves towards the higher end of the plant to curl?
Unfortunately, this is a sign that your tomato plant is suffering from something called curly top virus.
This is one of the most common tomato diseases that can occur in your garden and is typically passed on to a single plant from leafhopper pests.
Sadly, there is nothing you can do to prevent this infected plant from curling its leaves. The curly top virus also affects the plant growth, leaving a stunted growth and sad-looking plant.
It is possible to allow your tomato plant to reach maturity, however, we would advise against leaving it in your garden over the winter period.
Other types of diseases which could influence your plant include the yellow leaf curl virus.
This can impact well over 30 different species of plants, including tomatoes.
Yellow leaf curl virus is most widely known to reduce the number of tomatoes that your plant can produce, in some cases up to 100% of your potential crop.
This is typically spread by the silverleaf whitefly.
Too Much Nitrogen
Another factor to bear in mind is that there may be too much nitrogen in the soil where you have planted your tomatoes.
The most notable sign that this is the cause of your tomato plant's leaves curling will be that they appear a richer, dark green color.
It will be most notable on tomato plants that have been heavily pruned.
It will be important to avoid using any more fertilizer once you notice this.
Just as too little nutrients will pose an issue for your plant, too many nutrients can also cause its own problems.
Allow your plant to absorb the nutrients that are already present in the soil.
The next time it comes to planting tomatoes in your soil, make sure that you use a soil test kit to check the nitrogen levels in place before you plant anything else.
Excessive Pruning
We all know that pruning is essential for encouraging more growth in our tomato plants.
However, there is a little thing such as being too trigger-happy with the pruning shears.
If you have pruned your tomato plant too much, this can also cause it to become stressed. In which case, your plant will display this distress through its curling leaves.
Your tomato plant will need sufficient foliage so that it can absorb all the sunlight it needs to stay happy and healthy.
If there aren't any leaves for it to use to do this, or aren't enough leaves in place, then this will mean your tomato plant struggles to get everything it needs.
If your tomato plant is very young or hasn't had time to properly establish itself, over-pruning could prove fatal. This can result in stunted growth, curled leaves, and a lack of fruit.
Damage From Herbicides
One of the most common reasons why tomato leaves are curling up is down to herbicide damage.
Greenery including tomato plants are highly sensitive, especially to harsh chemicals that are included in herbicides.
The chemical compounds in certain herbicide products can also have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem and affect insects that are needed for pollination, such as bees.
If your tomato plant has been sprayed with herbicide, then this could be why its leaves are starting to curl up.
It will always be better to err on the side of caution and avoid spraying any kind of herbicides in your garden.
Instead, you can opt for natural deterrents or make use of companion planting to avoid your crop being decimated by pests.
The next time you plant your tomatoes, place a pot of marigolds next to them or plant them in the same plot.
The scent of marigolds expels certain pests such as whiteflies, tomato hornworms, and thrips.
Damage From Pests
Lastly, if you have exhausted all other possibilities, your tomato plant's leaves could be curling because of damage from pests.
This will be especially the case if you have noticed pests gathering around your tomato plant.
Pests such as tomato pinworms like to suck out the precious sap from the plant itself, which can then lead the leaves to curl up and start to wilt.
The best way to prevent your tomato plant from falling victim to pests is to make use of companion planting.
As we have already discussed in more detail above, you should opt for an environmentally friendly pest control option such as companion planting.
In Summary
So there you have it! You now know 9 of the most common reasons as to why your tomato plant's leaves are curling up.
If you notice that the leaves of your tomato plant are curling downwards rather than upwards, this is also a sign that something has gone wrong.
The most likely cause of this is that your plant isn't getting enough nutrients, the roots have started to rot.
The most common reasons as to why your tomato plant's leaves are curling upwards are that it has been exposed to too much direct sunlight, it has a deficiency of micronutrients, there has been a reduction in its water intake, there are signs of curly top virus and other diseases, your plant has been damaged from using herbicides, or damaged by pests.
Once you have figured out which of these 8 reasons is the cause behind your poor plant's plight, you should be able to tackle this efficiently to get it back to its former healthy self!
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