Curling tomato leaves
 

Hello everyone

I'm seeing some of the leaves of my tomato plants curl in early stages. The plants themselves are bright green which cancels out some description requirements for some issues but I'm not experienced in tomato plants so I don't want to come to my own conclusion.

As far as the setup its a simple DWC with air stones in the reservoir. I'm running a nutrient mix at about 1tsp of GH Grow per 3 gallons of water, the reservoir is an 18 gallon. The water was pre-filtered when added to the reservoir. The temperature never gets below 65F and never above 78F. I've kept the water level right where I need it and the root growth has been phenomenal, really thick roots and white as can be. I've checked the PH everyday and have it balanced between 5.5 and 6.0. The lighting is 18/6.
I'm growing an heirloom variety.

I'm including some pictures.
Any help would be appreciated!

leaf curl is often environmental, what is your humidity? What Kinda lightsource?

Right now the RH is 63% at 74.7F
Light source is a UFO 90W about a foot and a half above the plants.

With an heirloom variety I'd wager that's not enough light. We recently vegged three mortgage lifters in a super cropper. Till they where about 18" tall. They grew great and are now producing fruit in our coco system in the greenhouse. We used 4 UFOS. When I have tried to grow Romas and Little Mamas under 180W or less I haven't been successful. However little mamas where also successful along side the lifters. So I think the extra light made the difference.

It looks like your using LED lights. If I remember correctly, leaves curling is fairly common with them, and just normal with LED lighting. Another thing that stands out to me is that you mention your using General Hydroponics (GH) gro for nutrients. I assume your referring to the general Hydroponics Flora series. That's a 3 part nutrient solution, it needs all 3 parts (Gro, Micro, and Bloom) to be able to provide all the mineral elements. The ratio of how much of each are added to the nutrient solution depends on the type, and needs of the plant.

My inexperience shows :)
I have been meaning to get micro as I have gro and bloom already. I am hesitant to say I don't have enough light yet as I have a 3x3 area that is being used with mylar all the way around 360 degrees. I will get the micro tomorrow and see if it shows any improvement. I had a feeling it was more nutrient involved. I was about to flush the system and run the plants on pure filtered water for a few days and see what results come about.

Curling is a common problem under LED lights. But our last grow of tomatoes didn't experience any. Even with varieties that we had tried before.

The thing with my plants are that only one DWC setup is showing curling. The other side is perfect.

I did one pepper crop where some plants curled and some didn't in the same system with the same light. From that point on I have assumed it was some genetic predisposition to behave that way under LED. I have started to try find varieties that don't curl but then I was really thrown for a loop when the little mamas that I had tried to grow numerous times where just fine the last time.

Thats interesting. I've also read some information that seeds prepared in the same area where tobacco has been handled get a virus as well. Is that true? I've tried to get seeds that don't go through a huge manufacturing area but who knows.

I don't think that physiological leaf curl looks the same as tobacco mosaic. Sometimes my plants with curl produce fruit just fine. I think TMV negatively affects fruiting.

If the leaf curling is common and not something to worry about, I will be relieved. I went ahead and got Micro today and changed out the reservoirs with fresh water and the proper nutrients now. I did a light nutrient mix so that maybe they will get better in the next few days.

Hi everyone, I have been following this discussion with interest. At times I have had the same things happen to my tomato plants. For me, it has been strictly a nutrient issue when my leaves curled. I am mixing about three tablespoons per gallon.

On another note when my water temperatures got beyond 75°that caused a problems as well.

Just my 2¢ :rolleyes:

Anytime you want to contribute information....I will always appreciate it!

I'm noticed on some other grower's posts that they have the curling then change their nutrient solution and the leaves uncurl within a couple days. I'm not seeing this happen with my plants. I will just have to minimize all the possible problems until I find the issue, unless it is lighting that causes it from what ProZachJ is saying, since he has more experience with LED lighting than I do.

I'm not seeing any discoloration, spotting, abnormal wilting or other negative traits as of yet.

Waiting with bated breath.

After a couple weeks, I started noticing that my 90W LED light wasn't sufficient to provide coverage for more than 2-3 square feet. Very disappointing. However, one positive was the immense vegetative growth I got from the plants was amazing with the light at the correct height. I have since moved my plants outside because they have grown too large for my 1 UFO to provide for. I am going to begin a new grow experiment this time was only one plant under the light. I am optimistic about the results.

Coverage is also highly dependent on the height of the crop. Growing a bush type will allow use of a lot fewer lights than an indeterminate tomato. I've found for a 4x4 tent that 4 UFOs is enough for a decent go at most crops.

Yeah, I believe if I do another round of these plants I'd only do one under the light and see how far I can get. I lost a lot of plants in the move due to branches breaking under the weight of the plant so I know now either never move them or make it much more user friendly to move.