Leaf Curl?

grouch, Oct 20, 6:59pm
I have sprayed with Liquid Sulpher in the dormant stage in the winter. The trees have flowered but now I see the start of leaf curl again. Well can I still spray with Liquid Copper or will it affect the amount of fruit we can get. Is it better not to spray with the Liquid Copper at this stage?
annies3, Oct 20, 8:14pm
What trees are you talking about peaches maybe ? if plums look for thrips copper won't kill them, I have sprayed with oil which should help, also an insect spray,
chelseabird, Oct 20, 10:27pm
I wouldn't be putting any spray on them now they have flowered. You need to copper spray 3 times per year to get on top of it. The last time for the year should be just prior to bud burst.
grouch, Oct 21, 1:22am
Its peaches and nectarines. OK so I wont spray and try again next winter. I did spray but not enough I guess.
maclad, Oct 21, 3:08am
I sprayed mine with copper 3 times closely prior to green tip at green tip and just after. A bit of over kill but covered all my bases and not one single curly leaf and a huge crop which has not dropped even one fruit. Timing is crucial.
skin1235, Oct 21, 7:46am
you know I hate you with a passion now eh, I've been battling this for the last 40 yrs, and very rarely have success, this year is no exception, the curl is back , the developing fruit is already on the ground, another year of next to nothing
I suppose you have no bladder plum on your elephant heart trees either, godam flattened 5c pieces all over mine lol
wendalls, Oct 22, 1:00am
When you spray large trees do you spend ages getting under all the leaves and do you end up with spray drifting on you? Do you use a ladder to get up high? Or have an extra long attachment?
maclad, Oct 22, 3:55am
Fruit trees are generally sprayed before they leaf up, that is the timing bit, so they are much easier to spray. Spray throughly everywhere, under leaves if present, is very important as pests shelter there, and the ground as well as pests over winter there. You can use and extended spray wand or an adjustable nozzle to reach high places. My trees are dwarf so very easy to spray.
maclad, Oct 22, 3:57am
Sorry part of my job to know these things. Better luck next season. Sometimes I wonder about growing fruit trees, particularly for the uninitiated, as they do require pest and disease control to be productive and often it is expensive, time consuming and/or defeats the purpose of home grown produce.
chelseabird, Oct 22, 5:34am
I had the same problem on my Elephant Heart tree too. I just used the same copper spray program as with the Peaches etc and each year, the Bladder Plum was less significant. I have left the property so don't know how the tree is now.
Edit to add: First spray as soon as all leaves have fallen (Autumn). Next spray in the middle of Winter and the last spray just before bud burst.
groovie1, Oct 22, 7:29am
I've got a feijoa tree, apricot, nectarine, black boy and a pear tree spaced about five feet apart and in that order. Today I noticed the nectarines got leaf curl despite a mid winter spray of Liquid Copper. I can't recall the lady at Palmers Garden Centre who sold me the trees and the Liquid Copper earlier in the year advising they be sprayed that many times. The apricot is fruiting and quite heavily too but as yet nothing on the others. Should I be worried that the other fruit trees in close proximity might get infected too? If so, how do I prevent this happening?
oh_hunnihunni, Aug 24, 6:19pm
I was surprised to get flowers this year on a supermarket pit grown peach tree seedling and made a note that if I continue with it I would have to do a spray regime for leaf curl. Sure enough I picked off a handful today, in the process discovering a dozen or so young fruit. Fun stuff seeing the tree was being bonsai'd so is only about 18 inches high.
I'll have to use a really short ladder next winter.