Peach Leaf curl

Broke my leg last fall, took a major operation to put back together, Walking with a limp now but otherwise okay, but I didn’t get my spraying done and I have 12 peach and nectarines 3 to 4 years old with bad cases of peach leaf curl. Fruit set was pretty good despite that but wonder what I can do to minimize long term effects. I have been picking off the the most badly affected leaves and burning them but I wonder if that is doing any good. One tree would have no leaves at all if I picked off the bad ones.

Another problem is thrips, mostly affecting the nectarines, some of the developing fruit looks chewed on. Again fruit set was good so maybe thinning will eliminate the damaged fruit and still have a decent harvest.The problem started 3 years ago and is getting worse, but so far damage seems confined to the nectarines. Can any one recommend some controls?

Just today I found a little curl on Loring and more than I’d like to see on Harrow Diamond.

Good luck. I hope we get some good advice.

This only helps to reduce the source of infection for the next year. For this year, the fungus-infected leaves are goners anyway, so the only way to help the tree is to feed it (mostly nitrogen) to help it grow the next set of leaves.

There have been topics discussing measures against thrips damage. If I remember correctly, insecticide has to be applied at the flower stage. You may want to search for those threads to find more details.

Leaf Curl - spray with copper after leaf fall in the Fall and before leaf buds swell in the Spring. I don’t know what can be done now except fertilize as @Stan said. I would spray with liquid fertilizer when replacement leaves grow this summer.

It’s too late to do anything now. I know that’s not the answer your looking for but if is any consolation (and I know it’s not) I sprayed just like you’re supposed to and some of my peaches and nectarines still got hammered with PLC

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I noticed my one peach tree has this peach leaf curl this year. It remember last year there were a few branched areas with it. However, I did not spray in the fall, as I read about in another article. So now I have that issue to deal with. It bloomed and has fruit setting on the tree. I will hopefully see some answers here but maybe just have to ride it out. I did spray some before they bloomed but I guess i needed to have done it last fall after the leaves fell off.

Make sure that you do everything for trees after removing or the tree drops infected leaves. Actually, start before by making sure trees have an optimum level of nitrogen to replace what is lost in shed leaves, maybe even using a foliar form on new replacement leaves. Keep in mind that peaches are much heavier users of N than most other fruit species.

Make sure the trees suffer no other deprivations you can prevent, like drought or J. beetle defoliation. The sooner the trees get their energy savings account in order, the better the chance of getting a crop this year and keeping trees healthy for next years crop.

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Interesting.

I forgot to spray last fall and didn’t spray this spring until the buds were nice and fat and my Curl problems are worse than last year.

Thanks for the tip!

Like @danzeb pointed out, for PLC you need to spray when buds are totally dormant to be effective.
It can be in late fall or early spring. You only need one spray of copper for it.

Spraying copper after buds start to push can help with other issues but not with PLC.

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Is copper spray the only thing that works? My peach trees, and my other fruit trees as well, are surrounded on three sides with water. Front is a drainage ditch that feeds into the stream that feeds into my pond. There are fish, turtles, and multitudes of other wildlife in the pond. I hate to use copper that will affect the water for them. Not sure how much you need to spray to be effective.

Chlorothalonil is also used,but that is probably far more toxic than Copper,for aquatic life. Brady

Thank you. Definitely do not want to use that then.

You could try lime-sulfur, but it’s hard to find except in large quantities. It’s pretty much off the market. It is labeled for use on leaf curl on peaches. I use it in the fall with oil, and spray 2 copper sprays if I can. Some experts like Don Shorr out of Davis CA and Fred Hoffman suggest spraying 3 times for PLC, I guess it depends how bad it is in your area. I have about half a bottle left of my lime-sulfur.

The active ingredient is the same as lime-sulfur for dogs to remove fleas and ticks. I may try it when i run out. It is three times stronger so dosage must be adjusted.

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Good idea. Is the dog flea and tick three times stronger or the actual lime-sulfur tree spray you have three times stronger?

The dog flea dip is three times stronger than horticultural lime-sulfur. On the dog stuff they say the active ingredient is sulfurated lime. On the horticultural bottle it says Calcium Polysulfide Which is sulfurated lime. You can make it too, but it’s not easy.
I never tried it, and can’t suggest not following label directions, but it is what it is! I don’t see why not? If you add oil it will kill any overwintering eggs on the tree too,
Look at label i posted link to, for Combination winter spray and use those doses or adjust dosage if using sulfur dip products. Check concentration on label to confirm. Hi Yield Horticultural spray has 28% active ingredients, and most dips have 98 percent, so a little over three times stronger in the dog sulfur dip.
I have seen leaf curl on other trees around me, but have never had it on my trees. I also use copper though, so not sure how effective it will be, but the product is labeled for peach curl, good luck! Remember dormant only, trees must have lost all leaves. it will kill growing leaves.

This may hurt your fish too, I have no idea? it is more natural, here in Michigan both can be found in the soil. Mt Clemons which is near me is famous for it’s sulfur baths, or used to be. One building that used to be a bath house has a photo of Babe Ruth at the sulfur baths.

Ortho makes Diazinon which I have found very effective, also sold as Ortho Garden Disease Control (same stuff, read the label). I don’t know about toxicity, but it doesn’t take much, just wet down the branches and trunk. I have just a dozen or so small peach and nectarine trees and use a small hand sprayer rather than hose end sprayers which waste a lot.

The label says it is highly toxic to fish so @MikeC will need to look for other product.

Is there evidence this is the case when it is used properly (according to label). It is supposedly more effective than copper, although I’ve gotten adequate protection with that- still see a bit of curl, but not enough to damage trees or crop. That with a single early spring app.

I worry about repeated apps of copper and soil build up over time, however. I guess I should check the research on that.

I’m still looking into it Alan.Here is a chart that lists a bunch of chemical controls.They list a Chlorothalonil product at 12.5%.My bottle of Bonide Fung-onil is over 29%.

Wikipedia notes that it had been found in a number of fish kills near Prince Edward Island.
They are both bad for water invertebrates but if I was going by wording,in this report,Chlorothalonil looks worse.

Used properly and according to label is about the best a person can do when applying these things.There is water on three sides of MikeC’s trees.I’m not sure how much leaching from soil to water will take place or the percentage needed to kill organisms. Brady

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