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The leaves on my tomato plants are curling up and I'm wondering if they are getting enough water. The leaves are still green and there are tomatoes on the plant, but I didn't know if that was a sign that they were not healthy. I usually give them a good soaking every 2-3 days, but it has been really hot here in Georgia. We got a good rain last night and they were still curled today.

I've got three varieties and the Black Plum is not curling, but the Cherokee Purple and the Sweet Tangerine are. The Black Plum is planted a short distance from the other two.

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  • Did your tomatoes workout ok! in the end, or did you experience problems?
    – Mike Perry
    Sep 9, 2011 at 21:27

1 Answer 1

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Tomato leaves curl naturally if it's too dry, too hot, too humid or too windy. In other words, the leaves will tend to curl if growing conditions are not optimum for the plant. (Answers.com)

Mind you, leaves will also curl for other reasons too, such as disease. From the sounds of it your environment has just been unstable recently. I would not be too worried yet.

I would suggest to wait it out a little longer and watch how they change / react to the weather. Refer to the link if you would like a little further reading.

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    Yes, there are a number of reasons tomato leaves curl (I'll add herbicide damage to the list), and I have this problem annually due to changeable weather conditions (warm to cool to warm...) and all the resources I've found call it 'physiological leaf curl'. I got loads of nice fruit last year and things are coming along well this year despite the worrying appearance of the leaves. As Seanland writes, watch with the weather, and ensure your soil conditions are favourable (and don't overfeed!).
    – Shanna
    Jun 18, 2011 at 8:25
  • If it's the kind of curling from stress where the leaves don't recover, and the plant stops growing (where the leaves curl, turn upside down in the sun, and show prominent veins), pruning the curling leaves off seems to help stimulate new and healthy growth, and prevent the plant from dying. Sep 9, 2018 at 3:30

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