Feuerwerk - Leaf Curl? (Paging TomatoGirl)

[kayjay]

Hi folks. So I've got 12 tomato seedlings, 2 of which are feuerwerk. These two have pretty serious leaf curl. They're in the rear in this pic.

Is this probably just a trait of that variety, that they tend to curl up? My other 10 seedlings look normal. They've all been started under the same conditions. I've looked up the other causes of leaf curl and I can't picture it being a virus, herbicide contamination, or heat/dryness.

I guess I'll be burying them up to their eyeballs when it comes time to plant them out.

[imafan26]

The damage is on the tip and it looks like some of the leaves are curled up and some down. If it was a varietal thing and they are all the same age, I would think they would all start looking like that. It looked like there were small bumps or maybe tiny insects on the leaves. I could not zoom any closer to see them, but you could look at the leaves and stems under a microscope. Thrips can cause leaves to curl downward and look dry. The damage shows up on the youngest leaves first. Broad mites are another pest you may not see but will cause visible damage on the leaves and the fruit.

I would treat everything, but isolate any sick plants away from any healthy ones. I prefer to dip young plants instead of spray them because it gets better coverage. A non-toxic dip for mites would be to use warm water about 120 degrees. You would submerge the entire plant, pot and all for about 15 minutes. The trick is to keep the temperature constant. The problem with mites are that they are hard to kill and what does work on them will also kill their predators leading to a rebound of the mite problem later.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustainag/ ... Poster.pdf
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7429.html

[applestar]

Uneven watering could be another cause ... but are you sure those leaves weren’t touching the lights?

[kayjay]

Thanks, ladies. Actually, Applestar, now that I think about it, they were hitting the shelf with the light. (The shelf racks are wire and I just have the light on the top rack above the plants.) Also, I'm realizing that the assorted plastic pots seem to have different water retention, even though it's all the same seed starting mix. I do find it odd, though, that all of the leaves are curling, not just the ones on the top. Next year, everything's going into solo cups.

Meh - we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'm just hardening them off as usual. The weather has been nice during the day, just a bit chilly at night.

[kayjay]

Little update - I PMed the member from whom I got the seeds, and she said this happens every year no matter what she's done to try to fix it. They look half-dead... and then they take right off after they're happy outside. I'm glad I didn't give up on them.

[kayjay]

This feuerwerk did indeed take off.

It's not the healthiest plant I have, but it looks pretty good, considering I haven't had the time to devote to the garden that I have in previous years.