Garden Pests, Vegetables

Tomato Leaf Curl

People are having issues with tomato leaf curl. There are no easy answers without looking at the leaf itself and doing some detective work.

  1. If the leaves are distorted with brown spots and the leaves are turning yellow. Answer: foliar disease, most likely fungus, Septoria leaf spot or early blight.
  2. Leaves are curling upward looking like a green cigar. Answer: Do not worry. The plant foliage is growing faster than the roots, so the plant naturally curls its leaves upward to reduce solar exposure. The plant will grow out of this, mulch and consistent watering helps.
  3. Newer leaves are curling and growing in distorted shapes. Answer: Herbicide injury due to drift or mulch that was sprayed. Water movement with Roundup has been a problem. You will see the same effect in peppers and other garden plants.
  4. Leaves wilt downward. Answer: Maybe a virus, however, with newer tomato varieties, this is not as common as it once was.
  5. Plants are stunted growing in part shade. Answer: Most tomatoes need 8 hours of sunlight. Do not plant close to a Black Walnut for the tree roots will kill or stunt most tomatoes.
  6. Leaves are limp and yellow with green veins. Answer: Iron deficiency.
  7. Leaves curl on the edges with a burn pattern: Answer: Too high of a dose on Malathion or sprayed above 85 degrees.
Tomato Leaf Curl
Natural Tomato Leaf Curl
Flowers (annual and perennial)

Cape Marigold

The African Daisy or Cape Marigold are commonly called by their fancy name “Osteospermum”. You commonly find these plants in the greenhouses coming mainly in yellow and purple but many colors in between. They make for great plants in containers. You must dead head these to keep them flowering all summer long.

This white one I grew from seed is a “wilder form” which should be hardier to wind and heat. The white bloom and shiny purple center are reminiscent of the true roots of this plant. The flower open on sunny days and close on cloudy days or at night. The newer varieties stay open more.

White Cape Marigold

Whether grown in a container or ground, African Daisy needs a little water and some fertilizer and that is all. Too much water creates leggy, weak plants.

The plants where brought to Europe and America in the 19th century.

Flowers (annual and perennial)

Cosmos Flower

Cosmos flower is an all-purpose cottage plant. Depending on the variety, they grow from 1 foot to 6 feet tall. They make particularly good cut flowers, filler plants among perennials, and use as a bedding plant for mass plantings.

They are easily grown from seed or planted indoors and planted after frost. This annual flower grows fast and have very little problems with insects or diseases. The only problem I have had is the taller varieties with their hollow stems break or topple over in a strong wind. I grow them close together so they support each other.

Red Seashell Cosmos

They originate in Mexico and brought over to Spain in the 1700s. They grew popular in England (thus the name cottage flower) and brought to America from Britain.  This late start in America is why cosmos was late in being cultivated here. The word “cosmos” is Greek for beautiful.