"Wispy" Plants

[NorCalTrees]

Hi All. New here and back to gardening after over a decade hiatus. This spring we put in three raised beds, all three filled with a similar mix of our native soil (clay heavy)and a couple different locally developed topsoils. Plants in two of the beds are doing just fine, but in the other bed the plants are struggling. Severe leaf curl and a generally "wispy" growing pattern. Its been decades since plant physiology so I've forgotten all the terminology, but best I can explain it is that terminal growth looks kind of like a fiddlehead on a fern, except sickly. What flowers are being produced aren't resulting in fruit set. Watering and fertilization regimes between all three beds the same. Growing a few different varieties, Cherokee purple, yellow pear, Japanese black, celebrity and I believe an early girl. Any suggestions much appreciated.

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[karstopography]

Herbicide damage is my best guess.

[NorCalTrees]

Thanks. I've considered that, it's possible but I think unlikely. We do have an invasive bermudagrass issue we've been trying to get under control the last couple months and after extensive cultural failures we've resorted to some chemical treatments. Always very careful about spraying per label, low temps and zero wind. Sprayed around the other beds too, but not seeing the same symptoms.

[Shule]

If it's not herbicide, if the new growth weren't fern-like, I might suggest giving it some Epsom salt. But I don't know what's going on. Dicamba drift from a farmer's field? What do the lower stems look like?

How long have they been this way?

[NorCalTrees]

There has been nominal spraying in the area but I'd think it'd affect all beds about the same, being they're only a few feet apart. To be honest I'm re-learning and couldn't tell you if the lower stems look good or bad, I'll take a few pics and upload tomorrow. In terms of time, when I outplanted earlier this season around the first week of June the weather was abnormally cool and bad windy. The plants kind of just stagnated in place for a few weeks. Eventually they've all taken off, but the tomatoes in this bed look sick. Also, not sure if it helps the diagnosis but the beets in the same bed are growing like madmen, okra, Serrano and jalapeño peppers all producing fruit. Bell peppers in the same bed are struggling. Sure appreciate the quick replies!

[Cole_Robbie]

I had plants like that one year when i bought some 99 cent compost on clearance at menards. If it is not herbicide, it could be that one of the micro nutrients is way too high in the soil.

[MissS]

It could be herbicide. Tomatoes are much more susceptible to damage from herbicides than most other plants. Your peppers are then next in line and all of your others could still be fine. And Cole could be right too. My guess though is the herbicide. It takes a very little drift to damage them. When I know that there will be spraying around, I make a cardboard barrier to protect the plants from any drift that may occur.

[Toomanymatoes]

I am far from experienced, but it looks a lot like the photos of tomatoes that have been exposed to Grazon. I think it comes from contaminated manure/compost. Something to research anyway.

[Nan6b]

I have had that happen to just a few plants in the midst of healthy ones. It looks like herbicide damage but hits randomly. The previous growth is fine but the new stuff all comes out like that. I found the following was the only way to get anything out of the plants: remove all parts of the plant with those curly leaves. Then remove some more, back down to the healthy old growth. If the new stuff that grows is curly, remove even further down. Keep removing until the new growth comes out healthy. It'll put those plants way behind schedule, but that's the only thing I found to be effective. I don't think it's an herbicide, but I don't know.

[NorCalTrees]

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Thanks everyone. As requested prior, here is a pic of the lower stem. It's fluted w/ a bunch of nodules but I'm not savvy enough to know if that means anything or not. On continued research, herbicide contamination keeps coming up as the top likely culprit, tough to discount it. I still think drift impact would show across more plants, not just one relatively maps patch given they're all in close proximity, so, maybe contamination from purchased compost. No dime store stuff though, all purchased bulk from reputable local sources who have been around for a long time but who knows how much control they exercise on supply lines. Tests seem to run about $250 per chemical, so that's out. I think I'm going to pull a few of these and re-plant with whatever starts I can still find locally, more to see what happens than to produce anything this late in season. If it happens again, that should further narrow down the issue. Any other suggestions? Anyone played with tilling in activated charcoal to counteract chemicals?

[NorCalTrees]

The previous growth is fine but the new stuff all comes out like that. I found the following was the only way to get anything out of the plants: remove all parts of the plant with those curly leaves.

Thanks, but it's pretty much hit all the foliage on affected plants. The older leaves have cupped, not as severely as most pics show of herbicide damage but still cupped, new foliage has taken to twisting and "strapping." Some affected plants also seems to be bolting, putting on a lot of height without much foliage growth.

[Shule]

Hmm. Your plant has curly lower leaves and wispy upper leaves, right? That's cosistent with dicamba damage.

Dicamba works by causing uncontrollable growth that leads to the plant's death, so I read. Dicamba is an auxin agonist (auxins might sound familiar if you're into air layering). Auxins can promote roots; so, the aggressive growth of root nodules could be due to such as dicamba or 2,4-D. Or, it could just be humidity. It's hard to tell, since your stems could be on the very rooty side of normal. Do your healthy plants have just as many root nodules? If so, particularly if they're the same kind, then it's probably not a significant factor.

If the problem is an auxin agonist, I wonder if interrupting the auxins (so they don't flow from the top of the plant to the roots), as is done in air layering, would stop the plant from trying to overgrow. That might have other consequences, too, though.

Anyway, I'm not saying the problem is dicamba, but it seems a possibility, still.

[Nan6b]

Plant a couple of bean seeds where those affected plants are. They're very sensitive to herbicides. If they react, don't bother planting new tomato plants there; remove the dirt. Beans will tell you quickly.