Severe leaf deformation - Any ideas?

[ozza]

Im not saying this is it but it looks like what yellow crinkle disease does to papaya.

 

[PoweredByLove]

i was thinking about your issue some more, if it's not micros the only thing i can think is...contamination of your water. these plants are in the ground? have you had a soil test done? i'm sure i've seen something like this but i can't remember where. all i keep seeing in my head is images of water with oil streaks. is there perhaps motor oil leaking into your water supply or in the ground near your plants?

 

[mojave green]

There is an app called leaf Doctor. Cool app. Send your pic to him.

 

[Flyingteapot]

Flyingteapot is your entire plant affected like that? It appears very similar to what I'm seeing, but hard to tell - can you post a closer up shot of new growth? Been talking to other growers in my area and they agree it's something with the water. Heard once people switch to trucked in water they don't have the issue. Still going to get better lab testing this winter on my well to find out what exactly it is. I know my water is hard (400 ppm) but hard water alone should not be causing this.

It's not just one plant it is a bunch of them. I have been doing more looking around and have found a couple things. It may not be a water issue at all. It may be a combination of a couple things. There are these mites called bulb mites that live in the soil and feed off the root system of plants mainly bulb and root crops, hence their name. It also so happens though that these mite are attracted to soil pathogens that live in the soil like Pythium, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium (this would be your main issue since the mites are secondary pests but infestation can be bad). I also found another cousin of these mites that feed on spinach they are called spinach crown mites that make that curl happen I have post a couple link for you to take a look at. When I was reading about these a couple years ago a read to cut up a potato and put it around the base of the plant to see if these mites are present.
http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/html/754.php?aid=754
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF2939.pdf