Last year I posted in June that I was experiencing some severe affects on both peach and plums that caused leaves to curl up and die back. I soon realized the leaf roller aphid was the culprit thanks to Brady Bush! It took me several weeks of spraying with soapy water to get control.
After reading as much as I could about possible prevention measures, I decided to try Joe Real’s method. So far I seem to have prevented this issue.
Here is my Actual trial treatment:
1/22/25: Buds started awakening 2 weeks ago, most Europeans not yet swelling! But most Asians are! So today I used Joe Real’s recipe on all plums and peaches; Recipe: The Italian Dressing Recipe for Peach Leaf Curl by Joe Real
Add 2 oz(4TBS) of 5% vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Always add acid to water and not the other way around.
In a small cup, mix well together 2 TBSP (1 OZ) of Melaleuca Oil, 1 TBSP of Neem Oil, 2 TBSP of Dawn Liquid dishwashing soap.
Add to the 1 gallon diluted vinegar solution, and stir well, hence oil and vinegar and it makes for Italian Dressing.
Mix and Shake very well like you would an Italian dressing before spraying.
Spray during bud swell, but not during the full bloom, and when air temperature is above 40 deg F but below 75 deg F, preferably in the late afternoon.
1/28/25: Had very sunny weather for several days so, I made the second application, substituting Castile soap for Melaleuca Oil.
2/14/25: Repeated using Melaleuca Oil. Buds swelling but not opening!
3/7/25: Repeated using Castile Soap in lieu of Melaleuca oil. Buds still pre ballon. (Since blossoms had not yet opened decided this could still be applied but was my last application)
Results so far:
4/16/25 Most plums have been leafing out for several weeks. I have inspected several times during rainy days for aphid signs, no leaf curling or whiteish green sheens on foliage.
Thanks for the update.I may try that next year,as they are still prevailing,after using a few things.
At about first showing of color from Plum flower buds,the trees were sprayed with a mixture of Peppermint Castile Soap,Neem,dish soap,vegetable oil and Ortho’s Fruit Tree Spray.It may have helped but they still ravaged a Flavor Grenade Pluot and a few branches on others.I remember it being rainy during that time,so it could have diluted the potency.I made a couple of early evening applications of the Ortho product during flowering,but once they get inside the leaves,it’s difficult to penetrate.
Hi Brady,
Only with your help last spring was I able to arrive at a trial method that made sense. Now, seeing that you have aphids while I don’t, at least yet, I think you just need to start much earlier when buds show any signs of swelling in Jan- Feb. Thanks for your feedback as we try to narrow down to a prevention method, I will keep monitoring to see if this method has actually prevented my infestation. Should be able to confirm by June if everything is still healthy without leaf curlers!
Dennis
Update status:
We are now well into spring weather and all of my plum trees have fully leafed out. Still no signs of an aphid infection. Have not seen an aphid on any of my plums in spite of a rather wet springtime. I will be using this method from @Joereal each year now as it has saved me an enormous amount of effort by prevention of this particular malady! Thanks so much Joe for posting this information.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
We definitely had an unusual 2024 2025 winter here in the PNW. As a commercial grower I have to have my preventive sprays on for PLC each year and Ive been successful for over 30 years but I was caught with my pants down this year. Buds swelling in December was something I have never seen.
As far as your plums and aphids go you have been successful with homemade dormant sprays.
It is the best practice for controlling aphids to use dormant sprays and using just about anything that smothers the overwintering critters works well.
The rule of thumb is that if you also have a problem with scale insects then use a dormant spray early, at full dormant, otherwise you may be able to get away with just one delayed dormant type spray. The later you spray though the more risk to beneficial insects.
I noticed some ants going up my new tree and new tips curled and not looking great and from some older posts on here figured it was probably plum aphids. So I used tanglefoot and put on a couple baby ladybugs. The tree is looking much better now after a few weeks.
