Twisted branches on indoor tomatoes

[Deuteros]

I'm growing tomato plants under a high pressure sodium light. They are about a month old, very healthy looking, and have just started to bloom. Despite looking healthy much of the new branches are becoming very tiwsted and are curling downwards. The leaves are fine, although the plants have some of the biggest leaves I have ever seem on a tomato plant. I've heard that large leaves has something to do with the plant being cold, as they are growing in my basement. Could the twisted branches also be due to the cold or might it be something else?

[Bill R]

It does not sound like a problem due to the cold. It sounds like some soil deficiency. The most likely problem is a Potassium deficiency. A commercial fertilizer with a high end number (10-10-25) will fix that problem. There are other deficiencies that can cause that type of problem too but watering with liquid fertilizer should fix those deficiencies too.

[bungadora]

Well here is a site for you: pictures of mineral deficient tomatoes. You can see if anything matches up.

are correct that large leaves are a result of cool temperatures. I don't know about the twisty bit. I had that happen last year with a couple of plants but they were healthy otherwise. I attributed it to my lights and the plants being bent at an early age. You might also look at this commercial greenhouse tomato handbook.

[Charlie]

Thanks for the references.

Care Charlie

[bungadora]

You're welcome. Since I was curious, I found another one on tomato diseases which is fairly comprehensive. If the stem is otherwise healthy I wouldn't be concerned.

Dora

[Charlie]

Again, Dora, thanks.

Great! These questions about problems come about often here and will be helpful to repost in July and August. :-)

And thanks for the latest one. Bookmarked as well!

Care Charlie

[sumi_ritz]

I am having the exact same problem. I just posted on Gardenweb in the hopes for a answer. My stem is strong the leaves have no discoloration but the branches are curling. I also have new blossoms. I did recently prune the plant and probably over watered. I'm wondering if the plant is stressed.

of whats happening to my plants.

Sumilea

[bungadora]

One of the things I've wondered, since my plants were last year were otherwise healthy, was whether it is the problem with the lighting. When the plants are small, the light is supposed to be only about 2 inches away (if using flourescents). Unfortunately it is very difficult to do that with my setup, because the shelves are fixed, and also very small. So lighting isn't equally good in all places. I end up shifting plants around, sometimes giving one the best spot, sometimes another. When the plants are small they bend and they stretch, and perhaps some that do not get the good spots end up a little twisted. They get moved around, and one day they might bend one way to try to reach the light, and on another they twist around another way.

Just a thought. It's just that when there isn't anything otherwise wrong with the plant, it's possible it's the environmental management at fault, not a disease. Dora