What is the cure for tomato leaf curl?

Answer 1

It may be one of two diseases that could be the cause. It may also be the lack of moisture, but normally not as the plant would return to normal after a good rain or watering. This is a serious disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum or formerly known as pseudomonas solanacearum. This bacterium lives in the soil for long extended periods of time and enters the roots through wounds produced by transplanting, cultivating or insects and through natural wounds where secondary roots emerge. This disease favours high temperature and high moisrure conditions. The leaves continue to stay green but if you cross cut a stem, the center will be brown and ooze a yellowish liquid from the center of the stem. The disease reproduces quickly in the water conducting tissues of the plant and turns it into slime. This causes rapid wilting of the whole plant. Control of bacterial wilt of plants grown in infested soil is difficult. Rotation with nonsusceptible plants such as corn, beans and cabbage, for at least three years provides some control. Do not use pepper, eggplant, potato, sunflower or cosmos in this rotation. Remove and destroy any and all infected plant material. Be sure to wash hands with an antibacterial soap afterwards. Plant only certified disease free plants. The varieties Neptune, Tropic Bay, and Kewalo are partially resistant to bacterial wilt but are not common varieties. There is no chemical control available for this disease. Control can be gained by growing plants in a pathogen free soil, using disease free transplants and growing only varieties resistant to races 1 and 2 of fusarium wilt indicated by FF after the tomato variety name. Good varieties are Celebrity, Solar Set, Park's Whopper, Goliath, Dona, Big Beef, Health Kick, Viva Italia and Classica. Raising the soil to pH to 6.5 to 7.0 and using nitrate nitrogen rather than ammoniacal nitrogen will retard disease development. No chemical control is available. Try growing in containers with potting soil mixes until your ground has sat for a few years to avoid getting your plants diseased. It is suggested to plant corn or grasses the previous season for nutrients added to the soil that are beneficial to tomatoes. It is advised to rotate tomatoes every year to a new spot. I purchase my seeds from TomatoGrowers.com each fall for the next years plants. My favorite is Cherokee Purple. Good Luck!