My curry plant leaves are not growing to full size and curling up. However, there aren't any pest attacks.
Can you please help what could be causing this?
My curry plant leaves curling and not growing to full size
Hi,
My curry plant leaves are not growing to full size and curling up. However, there aren't any pest attacks.
Can you please help what could be causing this?
My curry plant leaves are not growing to full size and curling up. However, there aren't any pest attacks.
Can you please help what could be causing this?
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7417
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
About 5 years ago I bought a curry plant while vacationing in Florida I don't remember it looking like your photo. My plant came in a 4" pot I put my plant is an 8" clay pot then planted the pot in the garden. I watered it and gave it food but it staying small all summer. I had no idea what to expect I was hoping it would grow bigger but it only grew about 2" taller all summer. I brought the plant into the house for winter then planted it in the garden again the next summer without the clay pot hoping roots will grow larger and plant will get larger too. The plant had full TN sun most of the day 7:30 am to 6 pm. I think planting it in the garden with no pot helped it grow larger but it was still a small plant about 10" tall. I decided to harvest some of the leaves to test flavor in food I was very disappointed it had about as much flavor as grass clippings. I decided curry must be a name given to this plant that has nothing to do with curry flavor in food. Winter came I left the plant in the garden it was dead by summer.
I read online that curry is a name given to a mix of herbs used to cook curry food. The herb mix is different from 1 geographical location to another. Curry can be a herb mix of 5 to 14 herbs. The closer you get to the equator the more spicy hot curry powder gets. The information said, chilies thrive in hot climate and get hotter in hot weather so that accounts for why curry powder is hotter near the equator. If I want my food hotter I add more chili powder.
I read online that curry is a name given to a mix of herbs used to cook curry food. The herb mix is different from 1 geographical location to another. Curry can be a herb mix of 5 to 14 herbs. The closer you get to the equator the more spicy hot curry powder gets. The information said, chilies thrive in hot climate and get hotter in hot weather so that accounts for why curry powder is hotter near the equator. If I want my food hotter I add more chili powder.
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pepperhead212
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2879
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
Welcome to the forum, pramod!
I can't really see too much in the photos, though the leaves in the second photo don't look too bad. What size pot do you have it in, what kind of soil is it in, how are you watering/feeding it, and what kind of light is it getting? Is it indoors or out, and what temperature range is it in, if outside?
I have had a curry tree for many years now (the largest stalk is 1 1/4"), and this thing grows fast, given the proper condition. The first year, starting at about 10 leaves, it increased to well over 100. I had it in about a 3 gal pot to start out, and in 3 years it needed repotted - being rootbound slowed it down greatly. It likes well drained, but moist soil, and doesn't like to dry out - this is the only thing that ever made the leaves curl, when I ignored it for some reason, but they perked right up, as soon as watered. Now, I keep it in a SIP, a 4 gal inside a 5 gal bucket, and it seems perfect for it. I repotted it this last spring - it was sort of slowing down, and got a severe scale infestation while indoors, so I figured it was stressed, and needed this. I used the same pot, but severely root pruned it, replacing about 3/4 of the mix. I used some osmocote - a higher N type - and I'll occasionally give it a jolt of a vegetative type hydroponics fertilizer. This thing took off after the repotting, and I trimmed it once in September, again when getting ready to bring it in a month later, and now, I have to trim it again, as it is too tall! Under the right conditions, these things are NOT slow growing!
The mix I put mine in is about 75% Promix BX, 10% coir, 15% worm castings, plus some extra perlite, to make up for the coir and worm castings.
Two bugs I have had trouble with are scale and spider mites, always at the end of an off season, while indoors. This is usually from stress, indicating neeed for repotting, and I never have anything show up on them outside.
I would check the pot, and what yours is planted in. Maybe increasing the size, and changing the mix will trigger its growth. However, you don't want it to get to full size, I assume, since they get to 20 feet!
I can't really see too much in the photos, though the leaves in the second photo don't look too bad. What size pot do you have it in, what kind of soil is it in, how are you watering/feeding it, and what kind of light is it getting? Is it indoors or out, and what temperature range is it in, if outside?
I have had a curry tree for many years now (the largest stalk is 1 1/4"), and this thing grows fast, given the proper condition. The first year, starting at about 10 leaves, it increased to well over 100. I had it in about a 3 gal pot to start out, and in 3 years it needed repotted - being rootbound slowed it down greatly. It likes well drained, but moist soil, and doesn't like to dry out - this is the only thing that ever made the leaves curl, when I ignored it for some reason, but they perked right up, as soon as watered. Now, I keep it in a SIP, a 4 gal inside a 5 gal bucket, and it seems perfect for it. I repotted it this last spring - it was sort of slowing down, and got a severe scale infestation while indoors, so I figured it was stressed, and needed this. I used the same pot, but severely root pruned it, replacing about 3/4 of the mix. I used some osmocote - a higher N type - and I'll occasionally give it a jolt of a vegetative type hydroponics fertilizer. This thing took off after the repotting, and I trimmed it once in September, again when getting ready to bring it in a month later, and now, I have to trim it again, as it is too tall! Under the right conditions, these things are NOT slow growing!
The mix I put mine in is about 75% Promix BX, 10% coir, 15% worm castings, plus some extra perlite, to make up for the coir and worm castings.
Two bugs I have had trouble with are scale and spider mites, always at the end of an off season, while indoors. This is usually from stress, indicating neeed for repotting, and I never have anything show up on them outside.
I would check the pot, and what yours is planted in. Maybe increasing the size, and changing the mix will trigger its growth. However, you don't want it to get to full size, I assume, since they get to 20 feet!
Thanks Dave! The curry plant is in 10" plastic bag. It is kept on my balcony and using a plastic net to protect it from harsh sunlight. The medium used is soil and coco coir. I used compost and organic fertilizer once in 2 weeks. Additionally, I am using an 3" PVC pipe in the soil to put in organic waste. This pipe has holes on sides and bottom and the top is closed off with a lid. This method I am using to make compost directly on the pot. Not sure if this is causing the plant to have the leaves curled.pepperhead212 wrote:Welcome to the forum, pramod!
I can't really see too much in the photos, though the leaves in the second photo don't look too bad. What size pot do you have it in, what kind of soil is it in, how are you watering/feeding it, and what kind of light is it getting? Is it indoors or out, and what temperature range is it in, if outside?
I have had a curry tree for many years now (the largest stalk is 1 1/4"), and this thing grows fast, given the proper condition. The first year, starting at about 10 leaves, it increased to well over 100. I had it in about a 3 gal pot to start out, and in 3 years it needed repotted - being rootbound slowed it down greatly. It likes well drained, but moist soil, and doesn't like to dry out - this is the only thing that ever made the leaves curl, when I ignored it for some reason, but they perked right up, as soon as watered. Now, I keep it in a SIP, a 4 gal inside a 5 gal bucket, and it seems perfect for it. I repotted it this last spring - it was sort of slowing down, and got a severe scale infestation while indoors, so I figured it was stressed, and needed this. I used the same pot, but severely root pruned it, replacing about 3/4 of the mix. I used some osmocote - a higher N type - and I'll occasionally give it a jolt of a vegetative type hydroponics fertilizer. This thing took off after the repotting, and I trimmed it once in September, again when getting ready to bring it in a month later, and now, I have to trim it again, as it is too tall! Under the right conditions, these things are NOT slow growing!
The mix I put mine in is about 75% Promix BX, 10% coir, 15% worm castings, plus some extra perlite, to make up for the coir and worm castings.
Two bugs I have had trouble with are scale and spider mites, always at the end of an off season, while indoors. This is usually from stress, indicating neeed for repotting, and I never have anything show up on them outside.
I would check the pot, and what yours is planted in. Maybe increasing the size, and changing the mix will trigger its growth. However, you don't want it to get to full size, I assume, since they get to 20 feet!
I see patches on the leaves. Is it sunburn? Look under the leaves and see if it looks clean or has specks on the bottom. I suspect mites are attacking a plant that is being stressed by not having enough light probably in a less than ideal soil condition. Murraya comes from India so it would have to be very hot for it not to be able to tolerate more sun. However, since your plant has not been in full sun, it would need to be hardened off to more light gradually. Use fish emulsion or compost tea every week and add some osmocote as well. Small pots cannot support a large enough soil web to sustain a plant without a lot of supplementation. I would not add too much organic to a pot, it just keeps it too wet since there aren't enough microbes to break it down fast enough, it will eventually just kill the plant. Balcony gardening can be challenging especially if the balcony is made of concrete in a hot area. It tends to heat the plants, but not provide good air circulation and depending on the orientation the light can be nominal or very intense. It would be better if you can get shade cloth instead of a net to hang on the balcony if that is possible. A 30-47% shade cloth should work. You can hang it like a curtain.
Shade cloth allows the air in but blocks part of the light. It can be rolled up to let more light and air in. I double up parts of my shade house for plant that need 70% shade. If the shade cloth is closer than 5 ft from the plant the light intensity is stronger so you will get less than the rated shade. However, most places sell patio covers and sun sails and those are 70% shade and usually too dark for most high light plants.
Just in case there are thrips, you can use either insecticidal soap or alcohol. Do it early in the morning or after the sun goes down so it does not burn the plant. Spray under the leaves. I prefer to dip small plants, head first in a bucket of insecticidal soap or oil. Test first to make sure the plant is not sensitive.
https://www.amazon.com/Agfabric-Sunbloc ... cloth&th=1
Shade cloth allows the air in but blocks part of the light. It can be rolled up to let more light and air in. I double up parts of my shade house for plant that need 70% shade. If the shade cloth is closer than 5 ft from the plant the light intensity is stronger so you will get less than the rated shade. However, most places sell patio covers and sun sails and those are 70% shade and usually too dark for most high light plants.
Just in case there are thrips, you can use either insecticidal soap or alcohol. Do it early in the morning or after the sun goes down so it does not burn the plant. Spray under the leaves. I prefer to dip small plants, head first in a bucket of insecticidal soap or oil. Test first to make sure the plant is not sensitive.
https://www.amazon.com/Agfabric-Sunbloc ... cloth&th=1
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pepperhead212
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2879
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
Though I'm not sure where you're located, I can't imagine the curry tree getting too much light, being from south India, where it also gets very hot - well into the 100s. And it would be hard to overwater, being from monsoon regions, but you do need well drained soil, and, as imafan noted, that high organic content in the soil can keep it too wet. You might be better off adding some peat and perlite, to help aerate the soil.
I keep my curry tree indoors for the cold season. As soon as it is below 50°, it comes in, and as soon as the low temp will not go below 50°, it goes out! And as soon as it goes out, for more light, it takes off growing! And a couple weeks later, it flowers. Amazing how much new growth and flowering looks the same at first.
Here's a good video for growing curry trees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na9XeH2Cicg
I keep my curry tree indoors for the cold season. As soon as it is below 50°, it comes in, and as soon as the low temp will not go below 50°, it goes out! And as soon as it goes out, for more light, it takes off growing! And a couple weeks later, it flowers. Amazing how much new growth and flowering looks the same at first.
Here's a good video for growing curry trees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na9XeH2Cicg