Can overwatering cause tomato leaf curl?

Overwatering stands as one of the leading preventable factors of tomato leaf curl. I have rescued many waterlogged gardens in which the leaves curled up to look like small green scrolls. When roots sit in soggy soil, the roots drown, and the plant has a survival response to protect its leaves by curling them upward. At this point, memory or above-ground symptoms can help you assess problems in the soil, and we can discern between problems associated with overwatering or drainage issues.

The restoration takes time. The client's Brandywine tomatoes which had been overwatered, took 18 days to completely uncurl themselves after the transition to drip irrigation. You can monitor new growth. You should see new healthy leaves within two weeks, this will show you'll be able to nurse your plant back to good health. Any yellow leaves, especially older ones, will not reverse and will not bounce back so you can cut those off to redirect the plant's energy.

Avoiding a relapse can be done by developing smart watering habits. I teach the 30-30 rule: 30 seconds of watering, wait 30 minutes, then check the moisture. This method helped a community garden cut down the number of leaf curl cases by a stunning 70%. Also, consider mulching with straw to help maintain a consistent moisture level in the soil without over-saturating it.

Read the full article: Tomato Leaves Curling: Causes and Solutions