Marianne's Response

Why are my eggplant leaves curling?

eggplant

My white eggplant leaves suddenly started to curled completely up inward into a circle unto themselves. I am hoping the photo is helpful!. There is no yellow or brown discoloration. There are some indications of incests as there are a few holes in the bottom leaves. I saw a very tiny black incest on a leaf at the bottom of one plant. Would this indicate over or underwatering, please, or something else? The plants are approximately 14” tall and just setting buds. Only the top few layers of leaves are curling. The bottom couple of layers are flat still.
Thank you so much in advance for any quick response anyone can give so I can save my three white eggplant plants.
It is is of any assistance, I also have 4 Cherokee Purple, and 1 Lemon boy tomato plants which are exhibiting the same symptoms. Also a variety of Bellpepper plants with slight symptoms. They are all in raised beds in the same garden.
Thanks again!
Susan

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Posted by Susan Moniotte on May 29, 2022

Marianne's Response

The most common reason for cupped leaves on eggplants are over or underwatering. This could also be a symptom of a virus or insects but you would see some yellowing of the foliage which I do not see here. If the leaf margins are dry or crispy I would suspect not enough water. The leaves do not appear dry so my guess is too much water - especially as I see a mulch on the soil so you may not realize the soil is moist and watering when you do not need to. You do not mention where you live but a cool moist spring can create a condition where the soil is just too wet for these heat lovers. The tomatoes and peppers also hate cold, wet soil. Perhaps you should scrape back the mulch so the soil can dry out and warm up and see if that makes a difference. The good news is that your eggplant in the photo does not appear near death and with warmer dry weather the plant should be fine. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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