Hello friends, Here are some photos of my 13 year old semi dwarf Honey Crisp apple. It is not happy at all. The leaves have been curled like this since they came out, and they are only looking worse as time goes on. We get sheet irrigation regularly, so it cannot be a problem of lack of water. All of the other trees in the same orchard look happy and vibrant. This tree was fabulous last year, and put on so many fruitlets that we had to thin about 3/4 of them. We then got a tremendous crop of big, healthy, delicious apples. I expected that it would not fruit much this year, after all of that last year, but I did not expect it to look so horrible. I will post some photos and the last one is a Jonagold tree that is a neighbor of the Honey Crisp. We orchard in Taos, New Mexico. I am afraid that perhaps the tree is dying - but if anyone has any ideas of how perhaps to help it, I would be grateful . I see no insects, the trunk is not damaged, there is no active rodent activity around the roots. Thanks Peggy
Kinda looks like herbicide damage, but you said the other trees look okay. Other than that I don’t know.
I had a Honeycrisp croak on me after being in the ground about 7 years, but it failed to thrive from the get go, it also had some kind of root issue.
Herbicide damage was my first thought as well.
Can you pull the weeds away from the trunk and inspect the trunk?
hello friends, We are organic gardeners and use no herbicides. I have looked carefully at the trunk, but will inspect it again, pulling away the weeds. Thanks to all.
Look like a nutrient deficiency to me.
well, it has the same feeding as all of the trees who all are flourishing… but perhaps
Could it be powdery mildew or other fungal disease? If so, there are organic treatments including sulfur and copper compounds that can knock it back pretty quickly. In that case the tree will recover quickly.
When my tree leaves curl up like that and I know it’s not due to lack of water, I usually find rodents have been tunneling under.
My apples all curl up like that but not that bad. It’s due to our high sun, low humidity, and heat although it hasn’t been that hot this year. They still curl up. It happens early in the year soon after leaf out.
I’d suspect some kind of root issue. Voles, pocket gophers or some kind of disease.
You know, these are some good ideas. I think that I will call an arborist to see if they could diagnose the problem. It is a special little tree…
Wish my apple trees looked that good.
Just thinking a little more. I’d say the tree is girdled possibly by voles. Do you have voles?
Its called southwest disease.
Thank you tennessean. You know I cannot find any information on Southwest disease. Could you please give more details, or where I could find them? Thanks so much. Peggy
i have seen something similar with my first plant I ever planted(beautyberry) it happened to be planted to deep. This is pretty old for that to happen but makes me think something similar, girdling/lower bark damage/root girdle?
Well, I’ve had a Winesap apple tree to die of southwest disease with curled up leaves as yours. It starts at the southwest quadrant of the tree at the base on the roots with a rotting appearance. I tried placing some copper fungicide on the roots but the tree died. In retrospect I don’t think much could have been done to save it.
Maybe its officially called crown disease or something else, I don’t know. I’ve had 3 or 4 other apple trees to die of the same thing I think. Thinking that too much water is the main culprit. We get most of our heavy rains from the southwest.
Southwest injury refers to the repeated freezing and thawing of a trees trunk on the southwest side due to sun exposure during the winter months in a northern climate. The cambium will die on that side of the tree due to the repeated cycle. So not likely southwest injury inyour climate. I’m surprised your getting good apples on a Honeycrisp in your climate.
I suspect either a drainage issue related to too much irrigation, or leaf curling mites or aphids.
First I would use a magnifying glass to inspect your foliage, they are typically too tiny for the eye to see. If you rule out insects, then dig down around your tree at the drip line, if it’s too soggy, then your tree is suffering from water logging, can’t breathe! You may need to adjust the irrigation system due to either over or under watering. Determine if your tree is in a low spot where it cannot properly drain, if so you may need to improve drainage.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
Southwest injury is what @AndySmith described. It is not a disease. It is caused by an environmental condition.
Google Southwest injury on fruit trees, you will find a lot of info out there.
For example,