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Nothing peachy about this problem

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED APR 29, 2020

Leaf curl distorts foliage, but usually doesn't infect the fruit. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Sacramento spring created ideal conditions for leaf curl

“What’s wrong with my peach tree?”

Right now that question is as rampant as its cause: Leaf curl.

This fungal disease is twisting peach and nectarine leaves into knots. Red splotches appear among the crinkles. Eventually, the foliage develops a pale fuzzy coating, then falls off the tree.

What can you do about it? Right now, not much. The time to tackle leaf curl is long before it appears.

Those red splotches are a telltale sign of leaf curl.

Peach leaf curl happens almost every spring, but some years are worse than others. Our March and April rain coupled with relatively cool spring weather helped bring on this outbreak.

According to the UC Cooperative Extension master gardeners and University of California research, leaf curl appears about two weeks after leaves emerge from buds. If the conditions are rainy during that period, look out. Two consecutive days or more of wet weather can bring on a maximum infection.

In addition, this fungal disease loves temperatures in the 60s. Although a tree may be infected, symptoms won’t appear if temperatures remain above 69 degrees and weather stays dry.

And this fungus is everywhere in Sacramento. Taphrina deformans overwinters on the tree or on fallen leaves. It’s also capable of withstanding intense summer heat.

Copper spray, applied in November or December, can cut down on its impact. For particularly bad infections, a second application in late January may be necessary.

Very bad infections can cut down on fruit production, weaken limbs and shorten the life of the tree. The fungus can infect young twigs and shoots, causing them to die back.

But right now, the leaves will just keep curling until they fall. Then, new leaves will appear. Due to heat and dry weather, that second round of foliage is usually healthy and uninfected.

Leaf curl rarely infects the fruit itself. Peaches and nectarines will still develop, although they may be small. More likely, they will show some sunburn or other blemishes, due to lack of protection from leaves. Those problems are cosmetic; the fruit will still be edible.

When planting a new peach tree, look for leaf curl-resistant varieties.

If you have leaf curl this spring, make a note on your calendar to apply copper spray in November. You’ll thank yourself next spring.

For more information on peach leaf curl: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7426.html

Infected leaves will eventually fall off. In warm and dry weather,
healthy leaves will replace the damaged foliage.
deformed foliage

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An article about gardening.

Keywords:

fruit UC Cooperative Extension Sacramento peach leaf curl peaches fungal diseases nectarines copper fungicide disease control

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 2

Get out early in the morning and monitor your garden’s moisture needs. Deep water and add temporary shade structures for plants that are feeling a little burned. In particular, protect developing peppers and eggplant.

* Put off fertilization until this heat passes; plants need to concentrate on hydration instead of growth.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don’t let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Make sure to keep seeds and seedlings consistently moist.

* Plant potatoes.

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