Please look at the new growth in the center of the growth stem. This is affecting all 8 of my early tomato plants and I am deeply upset.

Has anyone seen this before?

I have a fear as to what I think it might be, but I wanted to run this by the experts here to see if anyone can recognize and confirm on site.

It looks like it caught a drift of week killer. Rinse it off well and hopefully it will recover.

Your soil could also harbor traces of weed killer but I would hold off a day to see if your plant gets worse after washing it off before I repotted it.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Damn.

My neighbors on either side insist on using it and this has happened before. They were all planted out in containers a few weeks ago.

Can they be saved? I figured it was all over.

If dumping the soil will help, I am all in.

It's possible that if it was a light dose that they will out grow it. You will know in a couple of days if they deteriorate further or if the new growth looks okay or sickly. If you have backups I would get them in. It does look like a very light dose hit them at this point, so yes if you wash it off and give them a chance they could recover.

I wonder if, since your neighbors insist on using it, they would be willing to to let you know in advance before they do it. In a spirit of cooperation let them know you understand they feel they need to, but you can also protect your own plants if they just give you a heads up first. They appear to be in pots so it seems like it would be fairly easy to put them in a garage or shed or something or at the very least put a tarp over them weighted down on the edges. I have no idea how long that stuff can remain airborne but it doesn’t seem like it would be more than a day or so. Maybe someone here knows.

You would think people would actually read the labels on these products.

I had that 2 years ago on only 1 variety but Thst being said they were not exsposed to anything because they were growing under lights indoors still have no idea what it was they grew fine in the beginning then all new growth did exactly what yours is doing .so my local greenhouse ruled out pesticides it’s just how they grew

Herbicide can come in compost or manure. It is prudent to test your media products by sprouting a bean seed in them.

I would relocate somewhere more safe from herbicide and cut the tip to let new normal ones form.

I never did figure out what happened. Same thing happened to me 3 years ago. Most did not make it though they tried after plant out. Stunting and curling basically every one never resolving. Started after maybe 3rd or 4th set of leaves. Must have been exposed when outside during sunny days. Otherwise inside under lights near a closed window. It sure acted like exposure. I was on 2 acres that's quite a drift. Pics match exactly. Now I only put seedlings out in small high tunnel. And now I also only grow tomatoes only in small high tunnel. Solved alot of problems with leaf disease, warmer so less catfacing, somewhat earlier, longer season. I just use electric toothbrush on flower clusters and I get quite a good production.
So what happened in the end this season?