My Honeycrisp and Rubinette espaliers leaves are both curling. They are along a fence with the Honeycrisp on the far left and the Rubinette to its right. The other trees to the right of these are all OK. What is their problem?
Honeycrisp: Uploading: IMG_1612.jpeg…
Uploading: IMG_1613.jpeg…
Rubinette:
Normal reaction for mid day heat, perhaps lack of water
Dennis
Kent, wa
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@DennisD I would agree with you except that the other apples along the espalier do not have curled leaves and look perfectly healthy.
I think it is probably a reaction to heat as well. On my trees certain cultivars curl a lot and others very little. But it could be something else.
I would check to make sure the ground under the trees with curling leaves has adequate moisture. I would also check the soil under the non-curling leaf trees so I could compare the two.
Also look for insects. For me potato leafhoppers will cause the leaves on my trees to curl so it possible that you have some on those particular trees. The young of the leafhoppers feed on the leaves and cause the leaves to curl. The young look like tiny bright green lines and they walk sideways on the leaves. I would look on the back of the leaves and see if any are present. There are also other species of leafhopper that can cause damage. Here are some links on leafhoppers.
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/IPM/english/apples/insects/potato-leafhopper.html
@mroot Thank you for your suggestions. I just checked the soil under each espalier and it is moist but not wet. Also, found no pests. I should have mentioned that the leaves at the end of the branches are yellow (picture below) , which indicates to me that it is deficient in nitrogen and/or there is some sort of root problem which lends credence to the overwatering hypothesis.
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Yes it could be some sort of root issue. I should note that Honeycrisp has a genetic trait that causes the tree’s leaves to have some yellowish areas. I looked at my Honeycrisp and it does have some yellowish areas that are similar to your picture. Here is a link that gives an overview of the condition.
Thank you for the info on leaf yellowing. I saw that they are also prone to leaf curl. I searched the Internet to see if Rubinette is also prone to leaf curl but found nothing.
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