Spraying peach tree against leaf curl.

My peach tree had terrible leaf curl last summer and I am determined to keep it healthy this year.
Is this the right time to spray with copper?
The tree has a few sprigs of blossom and is starting to show leaves. I'm in Nelson.

http://www.yates.co.nz/problem-solver/problems/peach-leaf-curl/

Yes. Spray at budburst! Which is now. I must get on and do mine, too.

You might be a bit late for this season if the buds have already burst. Before and at bud swell and into bud burst is when you spray.
But, there is no harm in trying.

Thank you all. We seem to be having an early spring in Nelson. I was surprised that the blossom was showing on the peach tree. I hope the copper spray isn't too harsh on the delicate buds, but I will give it a spray.

had this problem an planted nasertshims underneath and no longer is an issue . The tree has lovely peaches and healthy looking leaves

Unfortunately, nasturtiums are a no-no in Nelson. They are a host plant for the Great White Cabbage Butterfly which we are desperately trying to eradicate. We seem to be having some success too. I was talking to the DOC garden inspector only this morning and she told me that they haven't found any evidence of GWCB for eight months. Good news.

I use apple cider vinegar - leaf curl is a fungal disease - vinegar kills fungi. I use it for brown rot too, and hardly lose any fruit on trees that will be fruiting for the third and fourth times this year. It also works as a foliar food for the trees too.

I spray with a solution of 1/3 cup ACV to 5 litre sprayer of water. spray branches, trunk, any leaves (a bit early for those yet), everything. I use the Homebrand ACV from Countdown - around $4 a bottle. I spray every 5-6 days, and as soon as the leaves and branches are dry after rain. I keep a sprayer full of the mix, pick the sprayer up, out to my trees, and it's very quick to spray them, so isn't a 'ahh I've gotta do that' kind-of job. And no safety gear is needed. :-)

Does this affect the buds when they are just opening.

Hi, guess this would also work for nectarine, apricots etc?

Fruit trees fruiting 3 or 4 times a year? What type of trees do that? Sounds amazing!

Hi - sorry for the delay in replying, just came back to the thread - I haven't found it affects the buds - I spray later afternoon mostly - 4pm-ish, after bees have stopped coming to the blossoms, so the flowers aren't damp when they do, and so sun isn't shining directly on damp blossoms. That gives time for the flowers to dry before nightfall, so they're not damp - and therefore cold.

Last Autumn I bottled 58 jars of Golden Queen peaches from my tree, made jam, froze some for Winter Crumbles - plus we ate a lot freshly picked, and gave lots more away - I lost just 10 fruit to brown rot. I'm very happy with that.

The local polytech horticulture head tutor was here when my golden queen tree was in harvest - I'd emailed him and asked 'could I swap you a box of freshly picked golden queen peaches for you showing me how to summer prune my fruit trees.'

He was here the next day, was very impressed with the health of my stone fruit, and other, trees, and of the new growth on them too. As he left, with the box of peaches under his arm, he picked one out, bit into it, and said, 'now that's a golden queen peach! - and I'm off home to spray my tree's with apple cider vinegar.'.

This coming Autumn, I hope to have enough fruit from my Granny Smith apple tree, to make my own apple cider vinegar. as posted by autumnwinds a few years ago.

~~~~~
Apple Cider Vinegar: with thanks to Jean Gwatkin & NZ Gardener's Homegrown magazine: The notes in the magazine include that Jean uses Granny Smith or Sturmer apples, because that's what she has in her back yard, though she says any variety will do.
The recipe is:
"Enough apples to fill a plastic bucket, 3 cups white sugar.
Boil enough water to half fill a plastic bucket. Let cool.
Wash, chop and roughly process the apples - skins, cores and all and add to the bucket until they're level with the water.
Cover with a cloth or loose lid and stir daily for a week.
At the end of the week, strain and add the sugar to the liquid.
Pour into a clean bucket and leave in a cool cupboard for two months.
(I loosely cover with a teatowel).
When the 'Mother' (a sort of leathery translucent skin) forms on top of the liquid, your cider vinegar is ready to strain and bottle.". and enjoy.
Use organic, unsprayed, apples, and you have the best apple cider vinegar you can't buy, made by yourself!
Remember to sterilise your buckets and bottles - you can buy Campden or similar tablets from Bin Inn or home brew places for this.

This is sooo simple and inexpensive to make, so good for your health, so useful in cookery, and great for gifts. what more could you want?

autumnwinds (1624 ) 7:50 pm, Sun 29 Jun #17

With apple cider vinegar? Yes, I use it on all my fruit trees. stone and pip fruit, citrus, persimmon, fig, grapes, berries, almonds, everything - I have 57 fruiting trees/plants growing here. I start at one end of the section and spray them all.

With using the low ratio of ACV to water, I don't think the solution would harm any tree/plant/etc. in fact I've found they thrive, with the healthy and strong new growth I have on my peach, nectarine, apricot, etc. trees for example, it shows that the ACV is more than clearing the fungal diseases, it's feeding the trees too, as a foliar food for them. Shane, the horticulture tutor I mentioned above, was impressed with the healthy new growth too - which will have this coming season's fruit.

Hi. from my post above: 'trees that will be fruiting for the third and fourth times this year.'

Hope this clarifies. my trees are fruiting for the 3rd and 4th time this year - as in it's their 3rd and 4th year to be having fruit, some their third season with fruit to harvest, others their fourth.

Thank for that I will give it a go

You're welcome paddy.

I started using ACV after losing all the fruit to brown rot on two nectarine trees. a then three year old dwarf tree, and a normal size then four year old tree.

For years I've used malt vinegar with water as a window cleaner. at a previous home at one stage, I used the leftover mix to clean a section of fibrolite on a porch that faced south, which didn't get any sun - with frequent resulting greenish coloured mould. Then noticed over time, that the mould didn't grow back.

When I lost all the fruit on those two trees to brown rot, I remembered that porch, decided to use apple cider vinegar as it's what I think of as a healthier kind of vinegar - and also when my Granny Smith tree has grown enough, I can use apples from that to make my own ACV. I used the low ratio of ACV to water, and the results since have shown it's well worth spraying with it - both in avoiding brown rot, and in the health of my trees. and it's good for us too, so no need for any protective gear.

I'd planned to spray a few days ago, we've had rain since saturday, so will spray once it's over.

My apologies for taking over the thread somewhat OP.

No problem. Your comments are very enlightening.