Find Out How To Deal With Yellow and Curling Leaves on Your Tomato Plant

Tomato plants are staples of most home gardens. Not only are they pretty accessible for home gardeners — they do well planted directly in the ground, in grow bags, and even when placed in pots on apartment balconies — but they are fairly hardy and do well in the summer heat.

However, even with their durability, tomato plants are still susceptible to a wide variety of pests and threats, which can cause them to produce split fruit, see their leaves change color, and even cause them to wither up.

That being said, only in the most dramatic of situations will you lose a tomato plant overnight (I'm looking at you, tomato hornworms) and most of the time your tomato plants will let you know when they aren't happy through yellowing or curled leaves.

That's why so many home gardeners find themselves asking, "Why are my tomato leaves curling?" once the season gets started and their plants really start growing. Curious why this happens? Keep reading to learn more.

One common tomato problem involves curling leaves. According to the Gardening Know How blog, there are a few different reasons why you may see this with your plant. First, curling leaves can be a sign of environmental issues. Heatwaves, droughts, and even overwatering can all put stress on your plants, which causes the leaves to curl down into themselves.

Additionally, they may be lacking the right nutrients. Too much nitrogen can cause your plant's leaves to curl.

Pests are another common issue that can cause tomato leaves to curl, and insects like whiteflies and aphids can all create problems with your plant's leaves. Similarly, viruses (like beet curly top virus or tomato mosaic virus).

And finally, pesticides may be to blame. Sometimes, when you treat areas around your tomatoes with herbicides and pesticides, the wind can accidentally cause the chemicals to drift towards the tomatoes, causing their leaves to curl and die as a result.

Sometimes, tomato leaves can also turn yellow when they are in distress. And while they share a lot of similar root causes as to why the leaves curl — like watering issues, diseases, nutrient deficiencies, and pests — however, yellowing leaves can also be a sign of some other issues.

One of the biggest problems that can cause your tomato leaves to yellow has to do with dropping temperatures, according to the Gardening Design blog, which says frost can cause a host of changes to your leaves.

If your leaves are turning yellow, and temperatures recently dipped in your area, your tomatoes may experience wilting, spots, or even blackened ends.

The good news is that as long as you didn't have a deep freeze, you can usually just remove the damaged leaves and continue to care for your plant as usual, and it will produce fresh growth that has been unharmed by the dropping temps.