This early spring I planted a small peach tree in my garden. The first four weeks it seemed to really take well to its new environment and spot in the ground, even putting on a bit of new growth after week 2 in the unseasonably warm spring. However, at the end of April an intense late frost happened, and even though I covered the entire tree, a lot of the aforementioned new growth died off.
Ever since then, it seems to just have outright stopped growing. What’s more - all the young fruit buds after blossom were lost and the remaining older leaves that seemed to survive the late frost, now started becoming yellow and red with distinctive spots.
I researched a bit, and it seemed that it could possibly be peach leaf curl, but I am not fully convinced. There are no raised spots, and barely any curling can be seen. Here is a picture of some affected leaves - whatever it is, it’s slowly taking over the entire tree.
Definitely not peach leaf curl. If you have not spray any chemical, then ,it is not chemical burn. My bet is that this is coryneum blight, aka a shot hole disease, a common peach and other stone fruit disease. Check out this link for treatment.
It starts out with the discoloration, before any holes appear. The holes appear only towards the end. Sometimes, if it is a smaller leaf, the entire leaf will turn yellow and red. Afterwards it falls off.
The problem may be Peach Leaf Spot,also known as,Entomosporium leaf spot (ELS),which is caused by caused by the fungus Entomosporium mespili (formerly E. maculatum).
Fungicides that contain chlorothalonil, myclobutanil, propiconazole or tebuconazole as the active ingredient,can help with management.Spray when growth starts in Spring,about every 2 weeks,until it gets hot and possibly in the Fall,if the disease symptoms are present.
