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How Do I Treat My Peach Trees With Leaf Curl?
How Do I Treat My Peach Trees With Leaf Curl?. Peach tree leaf curl is a fungal disease that can eventually cause warty red leaves. Your tree can have the fungal disease for years without displaying any of the telltale symptoms. Prevention is the best form of attack against the disease, but after your tree has leaf curl you must make vigilant...
Peach tree leaf curl is a fungal disease that can eventually cause warty red leaves. Your tree can have the fungal disease for years without displaying any of the telltale symptoms. Prevention is the best form of attack against the disease, but after your tree has leaf curl you must make vigilant attempts to treat your peach harvest.
Identification
Leaf curl is caused by the fungus taphrina deformans. The spores live in the crevices of leaves, waiting for the spring season. Spores spread by being washed from the rain into new leaves and buds or blown by the wind. Temperatures must remain between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the spores to grow. Look for leaves that take on an orange, purple and yellow color. Red wartlike growth will start to grow on leaves as they curl. The fungus spreads to the tree's twigs and fruit, causing swelling. Infected leaves will eventually turn gray and drop in the summer. The disease greatly reduces fruit production each year. Left untreated, the peach tree will die.
Treatment
Fungicide will not kill off the disease. You must wait for the infected leaves to drop or prune off diseased portions of the tree. Use pruning shears, lopping shears and a pruning saw to rid heavily disease-infected parts of your tree. Dip your pruning tool in a mixture of 70 percent denatured alcohol and 30 percent water. Trim off branches at a downward 45 degree angle to prevent water from accumulating at the cut. Thin out your peach harvest and collect all debris from underneath the tree, because it can spread the spores to the peach tree.
Prevention
Prevent the disease from coming back by using a fungicide either in late fall after the leaves have dropped or early spring before bud formation. According to the University of California at www.ipm.ucdavis.edu, gardeners should use a fixed copper product to prevent leaf curl. Follow the manufacturer's directions and strive to get the tree completely covered. You may have to use a ladder depending on the tree's height. Be sure to wear gloves, goggles and a long-sleeved shirt to prevent the chemicals from getting on your skin.
Some cultivars of peach trees, such as Frost, are somewhat leaf-curl resistant. Orchards continually thwarted by the disease may need to be replaced with a more-resistant cultivar.
