Are Your Tomato Plant Leaves Curling ?
It’s the season to grow tomatoes and if you’ve planned it well your tomato saplings must be a foot long by now.
As these plants continue to grow, you’ll find their leaves appear to curl. It begins with a slight twist on the edges of few leaves and the quickly progresses through the entire plant, giving it a crippled look by the end of the season. Flowering and fruiting both are badly impacted. And soon these plants get heavily infested with mealy bugs too (immunity compromised).
Reason – Leaf curl virus. This virus is carried by a very tiny insect called ‘white fly’. You can spot them in the morning and evenings on the underside of the leaves. If you shake your plant you’ll see these flies flying together giving a white powdery sprinkle effect.
Solution – inspect plants every day and spray fermented buttermilk solution on all plants every week. Make sure you spray the underside of leaves. The spray should be applied early morning or late evening (not when sun is shining brightly). If the plant has been infested for a long time, it’s better to remove it from the garden completely. Do not compost it.
How to make the spray solution – let the buttermilk ferment in your kitchen for a few days till it gets a foul/sour smell. Mix it with 10 times water and spray.
Other plants that get affected by leaf curl – brinjal, potato, peppers, chilly, papaya, aparajita are among the common ones.