| We have a peach tree that all the leaves are curling - what can we do? |
| Peach Leaf Curl is a fungal disease that overwinters in bark, twigs and old, infected leaves. The first step in combatting the disease is to remove debris from the ground at the end of the season, including any fallen fruit and all fallen leaves. To protect your tree from infection, spray it with lime-sulfur just as the leaf buds begin to swell in the spring. (Lime-sulfur, or Bordeaux, is often used to prevent scab in apple trees, and is generally acceptable to gardeners growing organic produce.) The infected leaves on your tree can be picked off now, or they will fall off on their own later in the season. Either way, they need to be removed from the garden to prevent re-infection of your tree. If the fungus is allowed to attack your tree year after year it will eventually weaken the tree and reduce the harvestable crop. |
