by If the leaves of tomato seedlings wilt, turn yellow, dry out and curl up (this can also happen with peppers), you need to determine the cause and help the plant, because curled leaves disrupt the process of photosynthesis, and this can lead to serious consequences.
For one reason or another, from time to time the leaves of both tomato seedlings and plants planted in a greenhouse or open ground curl. Failure to comply with agricultural technology rules can lead to the plant ceasing to develop normally and not yielding a harvest. The first “signs” are a change in the appearance of the plant’s leaves: they begin to turn yellow, curl, and wither.
Tomato and pepper leaves curl upwards
If the leaves of tomatoes curl upward, this is most likely a sign of copper or magnesium deficiency. To replenish it, feed the plant with the following solution: dilute 10 tablespoons of magnesium sulfate and 2 teaspoon of copper sulfate (previously dissolved in a glass of boiling water) in 1 liters of water. Consumption – 0,5 liters per bush.
Sometimes tomato and pepper leaves that turn outward indicate excess moisture. In rainy weather, stop watering in the greenhouse, and for plants “living” in the open ground, make a canopy of film.
Tomato and pepper leaves curl inward
When the leaves curl inward, this may be a sign of phosphorus deficiency. To eliminate the problem, prepare the following solution: pour 1 glass of superphosphate into 5 liters of boiling water and leave for 10 hours. Then add warm water to make 0,5 liters, and feed the plants, pouring liters of the solution under the bush.
Another common reason why tomato or pepper seedlings curl their leaves is that the plant is affected by a disease or pest. There are a great many insects that harm plants, but the most common attacks on tomatoes and peppers are aphids, whiteflies, mites, etc.
If the leaves curl downwards, treat the plants with any insecticide (Aktara, Iskra, Inta-Vir), and if you are against “chemistry”, use a folk recipe for an infusion of onion peel: pour 1 glass of peel with 10 liters of water and leave for a day. Spray the peppers and tomatoes with the resulting solution every 5 days until the symptoms disappear. To disinfect the soil, pour a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.
Unfortunately, a common cause of curling leaves in tomatoes and peppers can be a difficult-to-cure (or even incurable) disease. Plant diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi. Each specific case of disease control has its own subtleties:
It is very important to carefully examine plants at the early stages of development in order to notice the symptoms of the disease in time and prevent its spread.
Tomato and pepper leaves are rolled into a tube
The reason for this type of leaf curling may be a poorly developed root system or damage to the roots during transplantation. The plant is experiencing stress – this is normal. Wait for some time until the seedlings adapt to the new conditions and, perhaps, the symptoms will disappear. If this does not happen, watering the plant with a root formation stimulator may help.
Incorrect side-shooting and pinching is another factor that affects the appearance of the plant’s leaves. This happens if a large number of side-shoots are removed at once, or if the side-shoots are removed too late.
Don’t forget to remove the shoots in a timely manner (before they reach 5 cm). To help the plant cope with stress, use biostimulants.
There is also a possibility that your plants are experiencing phosphorus starvation. You can replenish the phosphorus deficiency with superphosphate (as described above) or by preparing an organic fertilizer, for example, by soaking 10-0,5 kg of fish in 1 liters of warm water for a day. Then filter the infusion, dilute it with water 1:1 and feed the plants at the rate of 1 liter per bush. Unfortunately, this folk recipe has one significant drawback: for all its usefulness, the fish infusion smells extremely bad.
Tomato and pepper leaves curl into a spiral
Most likely, the reason for this is zinc deficiency. The following feeding will help to correct the situation: 30 g of superphosphate and 50 g of ash are infused for 1,5 hours in 1 liter of hot water, then diluted with another 9 liters of water and 500 ml of the solution is added under each plant.
Tomatoes and peppers have curled upper leaves
An imbalance of macro- and microelements is a fairly common reason why tomatoes or peppers have curled leaves. For example, if there is too much nitrogen in the soil, the upper leaves curl and darken, turning red-violet at the edges. In this case, you need to add a ready-made complex fertilizer or sprinkle the soil with ash (3 mm layer), then water it generously. Potassium nitrate can be added to plants planted in a greenhouse: dilute 2 tbsp in 10 liters of water and pour 0,5 liters of solution under each bush.
Lack of moisture is also sometimes manifested by the fact that the upper leaves of tomato or pepper seedlings curl. To prevent this from happening, follow the watering rules:
- Until the seedlings appear, keep the crops under film, spraying the soil with water in the morning;
- with the first shoots, stop watering for 2-4 days, then remove the film and water the seedlings generously 1-2 times a week;
- Stop watering 2 days before picking, take another break for 4-5 days after the procedure, and then water once a week.
In addition, the leaves of seedlings can curl due to uneven growth. This happens because the midrib of the leaf grows and stretches, and the leaf blade does not have time to grow and therefore curls. There is nothing to worry about here, but if you want to correct the situation, move the containers with plants to a warm and well-lit place.
Tomatoes and peppers have lower leaves curling up
If brown spots or brown specks appear on the lower leaves of plants, but the veins remain green, and the edges of the leaves begin to curl, try feeding the plants with superphosphate and ash to replenish the molybdenum deficiency. Preliminary application of ash, among other things, will help normalize the acidity of the soil so that tomatoes better absorb phosphorus, the deficiency of which can also cause leaf curling.
Tomatoes and peppers can be fed using 3 cups of ash per 1 sq.m. When planting seedlings, you can add a handful of ash to each hole.
Why do tomato and pepper leaves curl in a greenhouse?
If you are concerned about why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse, you should pay attention to the temperature regime and maintaining soil moisture. If you do not always have the opportunity to water the plants in a timely manner, a drip irrigation system will be a good option.
It is also a great idea to mulch the soil, which will not only help maintain normal moisture levels, but will also reduce the number of weeds.
Don’t forget to ventilate the greenhouse. On particularly hot days, throw spunbond on it – this will help reduce the temperature inside by several degrees.
The reason for curling leaves can also be a lack of light. Sometimes, to fix the situation, it is enough to simply wash the greenhouse and trim the shading branches of nearby trees.
It is also useful to spray tomato and pepper bushes with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate in the evenings.
Curled leaves are not a reason to panic and despair. It will be much more productive to find the cause and eliminate it. And in some cases, this may not be a “defect” at all, but a natural varietal characteristic of some types of tomatoes, for example, cherry tomatoes.
