Why do tomato seedlings curl leaves ⋆ 👨‍🌾 Farmer-online ⋆

When growing tomato seedlings, gardeners may encounter various problems, one of which is twisting of leaf plates. To help the plants and save the crop, you first need to find out why the leaves began to curl.

Causes of leaf curl in tomato seedlings

The leaves of tomato seedlings can begin to curl for various reasons, of which there are a lot. Most often, this problem is observed in inexperienced gardeners who do not yet know how to properly care for seedlings, and what conditions they need for normal development.

Common causes of leaf curl

First of all, you need to pay attention to which leaf plates of the seedlings began to curl. If these are cotyledon leaves, then this means that they will soon fly around, which is a completely natural process and always happens as the tomato grows.

However, if real sheet plates began to twist, then it is imperative to figure out what the reason is, and this should be done as soon as possible.

There are many reasons for leaf curl. Among them are the following common reasons:

improper preparation of the substrate and seed material for sowing or its complete absence;
the plants lack nutrients or there are a lot of them in the soil mixture;
fluid stagnation in the root system or overdrying of the earthy coma;
excessively low humidity in the room;
the room is very hot;
seedlings do not have enough light;
the leaves were exposed to direct scorching rays of the sun;
the plant is affected by a disease or harmful insects have settled on it;
the root system of the bushes is very crowded in the container in which the seedlings are grown;
when transplanting or pinching, tomatoes received serious mechanical damage;
variety feature.

As for the varietal feature, you need to know that there are varieties of tomatoes in which the leaves are twisted in all bushes without exception, even if they are completely healthy.

These include hybrids such as:

Fatima;
Japanese crab;
Oxhart;
honey drop;
Some vigorous varieties and varieties of cherry tomatoes.

Inspect the foliage, if it is thin on all bushes and twisted to the bottom, then we can talk about varietal features. And the foliage is twisted in this case, because the leaf plate grows more slowly than the central vein.

Why curl down, inward and dry

It happens that the leaf plates of young tomatoes twist down, inward, and then dry out and die. This can also happen for several reasons. For example, this may be due to the defeat of seedlings by bacterial cancer.

You can understand that seedlings are sick by the following signs:

the lower leaf plates quickly twist, fade, change their color, and then dry;
cracks and ulcers form on the surface of petioles and shoots;
if you cut the shoot across, you can see a brown ring.

Also, the foliage can curl down due to the fact that the substrate lacks certain nutrients, and you can understand which ones by the following changes:

copper – the tips of the leaves go down, like their petioles, and over time, chlorosis and necrosis begin;
pork – in this case, young leaf plates are twisted, while the middle leaves turn yellow, and their veins turn purple;
sulfur – young leaf plates are also twisted, over time, necrotic spots form on them.

Also, the twisting of the foliage down may be associated with an excess amount of zinc and boron in the soil mixture.

If the substrate contains too much of these substances, then the following changes will occur with the plants:

If there is too much boron, the tips of the leaf blades will curl, become dry and very brittle. The lower foliage begins to twist first, and then gradually reaches the upper part of the bush.
Excess zinc causes old foliage to curl. At the same time, the seamy surface from the edges begins to turn purple.

If during the picking the roots of the seedlings are severely injured, then the planted bush will not be able to receive nutrients in the required amount. And this, as already described above, is the reason for the twisting of the leaves down. When the root system of the plant is restored, the foliage will return to normal.

Why are the top leaves curling?

The top leaf plates of tomato seedlings can curl for the following reasons:

If the room is very hot (more than 35 degrees). In this case, during the heat, the foliage twists, and when it gets cooler, it straightens.
With sharp and significant changes in daily temperatures.
If the plant is watered often, but with a small amount of water. Experts advise that seedlings be watered rarely, but plentifully. Also, the apical foliage begins to dry if the soil mixture in the container is dry or there is stagnation of water in it.
When infected with a viral disease.
Pests have settled on the bush. The whitefly or aphid can contribute to the curling of the foliage.
Excessively low air humidity.
The defeat of the bushes by tomato bacteriosis. In this case, yellowing and twisting of the foliage begins.

What to do, how to help seedlings

If the tomato seedlings began to spin foliage, then first of all you need to pay attention to the frequency and abundance of watering, as well as the temperature in the room.

As a rule, if you adjust the watering regime and place the seedlings in a place with suitable temperature and lighting, then the leaves will straighten out soon.

If the plants are watered correctly, and the temperature and lighting are optimal, then the cause is most often a lack or excess of nutrients. In this case, you need to start feeding the seedlings correctly. If the air in the room is excessively dry, then the foliage will need to be systematically moistened from a spray bottle with water at room temperature.

Tomatoes affected by a viral disease or tomato bacteriosis should be dug up and destroyed as soon as possible. For all remaining bushes, preventive treatment is carried out with a special preparation. If pests have settled on the bushes, then they should be sprayed with a solution of an insecticidal preparation.

If the leaves are twisted due to the fact that the root system has become very crowded in the container in which the seedlings grow, then they can be helped in two ways:

First, the plant can be transplanted into a larger container.
Secondly, it can be planted in a greenhouse, in a greenhouse or in open ground. However, you should not delay this, otherwise the tomatoes can stretch and weaken greatly.

Prevention

In order not to guess why the foliage on tomato seedlings began to curl, you must adhere to certain rules for caring for it, as well as provide it with optimal conditions for growth.

Preventive measures should be taken already at the stage of preparation of the substrate and seed. First of all, you need to prepare a substrate suitable for sowing, and then it should be disinfected in order to destroy pathogens of fungal diseases and pathogenic bacteria.

There are several ways to do this:

the soil mixture is shed with freshly boiled water;
a layer of substrate of no more than 40 mm is poured onto a baking sheet and calcined in an oven for half an hour at a temperature of 80 to 90 degrees;
the earth mixture can be spilled with a solution of a fungicidal preparation;
the substrate is poured into a special bag and calcined for 10 minutes in the microwave.

When picking seedlings, a disinfected substrate should also be used. And do not forget to disinfect and seed material during pre-sowing preparation.

Also remember that the air temperature in the room where the tomatoes are located should not be too high, but it should not be allowed to drop to 14 degrees or lower. This can cause the development of fusarium, and a sign of such a fungal disease is twisting of the leaf plates.

Leaves also curl due to improper watering of seedlings:

If there is stagnation of water in the substrate, then this leads to a lack of oxygen, and rot may also appear on the root system.
If watering is carried out rarely and only the top layer of the soil mixture is soaked, then the development of the roots does not occur correctly. They begin to grow not deep into the substrate, but expand parallel to its surface. As a result, the root system grows weak and unable to reach moisture into the deep layers of the soil.

Therefore, it is very important to choose the right watering regimen.

Particular attention should be paid to top dressing. Try to make sure that all the necessary substances are present in the soil mixture in the right amount. Remember that plants, as well as their leaves, can suffer from both a lack and an excess of nutrients.

Gardeners tips

Experienced gardeners recommend paying special attention to feeding tomato seedlings. They are carried out only when necessary. If the seedlings are growing normally and showing no signs of nutrient deficiencies, then you can do without top dressing.

Many gardeners have recently been trying to use organic ones instead of purchased mineral fertilizers, which you can do yourself.

The following organic fertilizers are most popular:

If the seedlings do not have enough potassium, then you can prepare an infusion on a banana peel to feed them. To prepare it, the peel of several fruits is placed in a 3-liter jar and poured with warm water. After three days, the infusion will be ready. Seedlings with this tool are recommended to be watered regularly every 7 days.
A nutrient mixture for feeding seedlings of tomatoes can be prepared from egg shells, it contains a large amount of calcium, as well as other substances necessary for seedlings. The dried and crushed shell is combined with warm water and cleaned in a dark place for three days. As soon as the mixture becomes cloudy and it has an unpleasant smell of hydrogen sulfide, we can say that the infusion is ready. It remains only to strain and can be used for its intended purpose.
Ash top dressing is the most popular among gardeners, as it is an excellent prevention of leaf twisting in tomato seedlings. Take a couple of liters of wood ash and combine with hot water. Bring the volume of the resulting solution to ten liters and leave it for a day. Before feeding, the resulting infusion is diluted with clean warm water in a ratio of 1:10.

What to do if the leaves of tomatoes curl – video

Why do tomato leaves curl? – video

In order not to puzzle over why the leaves of tomato seedlings began to curl, it is enough just to provide them with good care, as well as suitable conditions for growth. If the foliage nevertheless began to twist, then it is necessary to take all necessary measures to fix it as soon as possible, otherwise you may be left without a crop.