Leaf Curl on Peach Tree

Peach branch

Leaf Curl on Peach Tree

I usually spray my peach tree early in the season, but this year I forgot. While the foliage and immature fruit are doing well, I’ve just noticed a few hints of leaf curl. Will this affect the crop, is it too late to treat, and with what?

Leaf curl is quite common on peach trees and can only be prevented by early sprays of a copper compound. Once the fungus has entered the leaves, there is no way to control leaf curl during that season. Fortunately, leaf curl will not affect the fruit, in fact, usually the infected leaves will fall off the tree during summer.
 
At the end of the growing season (autumn), apply a spray of copper oxychloride to all parts of your peach tree and repeat the process in spring before bud burst (when the buds are swelling but before they have opened). Garden hygiene is particularly important - when pruning the tree in winter, carefully collect and remove old leaves that may still be carrying remnants of this fungus. 

Apply Daltons Garden Time Fruit & Citrus Fertiliser in mid-February and feed through till autumn. Recommence again in early spring when plants are coming into growth, then feed at six weekly intervals until mid-December.

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