Curly leaves - the scourge of gardeners when growing peach or nectarine. An insidious disease develops rapidly and it is very difficult to contain it. A gardener who has decided to grow a peach in his plot should know the causes and signs of curly leaves, as well as methods of prevention and treatment.
Peach leaf curls - characteristics and causes
This is the most dangerous and harmful peach disease, which without appropriate prophylaxis in most cases leads not only to loss of crop, but also to the death of trees.
Characteristics and causes of the disease
The causative agent of the disease is the vague fungus Taphrina deformans. It can also settle on apricot, nectarine and almonds. His spores hibernate in cracks of the bark, between the scales of the kidneys, in the affected leaves and shoots. In spring, when the air temperature reaches +10 ° C, spores germinate and form a mycelium. The active period of the development of the disease coincides with the awakening of leaf buds and their blooming. It is the young leaves that are affected by the fungus in the first place. They are followed by young shoots, and sometimes flower buds and flowers. Fruits are rarely affected. In summer, when the temperature rises above +26 ° C, and the leaves become coarser, the likelihood of infection decreases.
Symptoms of the disease look like this:
- After the young leaves bloom and unfold, pale green swellings appear on their upper side. As the disease develops, their color changes to pale yellow, then bright red and then to brown.
Bright red tubercles on peach leaves are an undoubted sign of curliness
- Hollows form on the underside of the leaves at the lesion sites.
- The affected areas of the leaves are very thick.
- Over time, a whitish coating forms on the infected areas.
- As a result, the leaves die off, turn black and fall off.
- Infected young shoots thicken and (or) bend. At the end of summer, they dry out or freeze in winter.
- In diseased flowers, the petals are larger, their color is variegated. And also they often fall off without forming ovaries.
- The fruits become brilliant, they form bloats and cracks. They are crushed and often fall off.
- The number of fruit buds planted for next year is sharply decreasing.
Methods of prevention and treatment
There are two principles for the treatment and prevention of fungal diseases. First, you need to remove pathogens and mycelium plants from the patient as much as possible - for this, diseased shoots, leaves, ovaries and fruits are cut off, after which they are disposed of. The operation, if necessary, is repeated during the growing season. The second necessary action is the treatment with fungicides (drugs to combat fungal diseases) in order to completely destroy the remaining fungi. And besides, we must not forget about typical preventive measures: autumn digging of the soil of tree trunks, collection and disposal of fallen leaves, sanitary pruning of the crown, lime whitewashing of branches and trunks, as well as ensuring balanced nutrition and watering.
Video: curly peach leaves: an overview and how to treat
Curl Peach Processing
Without timely treatments for curly hair, a healthy peach will most likely fail.
Without timely treatments for curly hair, a healthy peach will most likely fail.
Processing Dates
Preventive treatments are based on rooting treatments. They are carried out with potent drugs, as a rule, of universal action (from all diseases and pests). Since such preparations are quite toxic, and can also burn foliage and young shoots, they are used in late autumn (after leaf fall) and / or in early spring (before bud swelling), when the tree is at rest.
Table: peach preventative treatment calendar
| Peach development phase | Estimated Dates | Used drugs |
| Before sap flow (before kidney swelling) | End of February - March | Potent universal pesticides |
| After the flowers fall | Mid april | Copper-containing and (or) chemical fungicides |
| 7-10 days after previous treatment | ||
| Ovary formation, fruit growth and ripening | Beginning of May - end of July, interval 2-3 weeks | Biofungicides |
| The end of the growing season, the transition to a state of rest | The end of October | Potent universal pesticides |
How to spray a peach from curly leaves
Manufacturers offer many different drugs for these purposes. Alternative methods for this disease are ineffective, so we will not dwell on them. We briefly introduce the most popular and effective fungicides, tabulating the data for the convenience of the gardener.
Table: popular peach treatments for curly hair
| Means | Active substance | Drug group | Mode of application | Permissible number of treatments | Duration of protective action | Waiting time |
| BOTTOM | 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol | Universal Potent Pesticides | It is used for rooting treatments at a concentration of 0.5-1% in the temperature range + 13-20 ° C. Not recommended for young (up to 3-4 years) trees. | Once every three years | No data | - |
| Nitrafen | Nitrafen | It is used for rooting treatments in a 3% solution. | Once a year | - | ||
| Blue vitriol | Copper Sulfate (CuSO₄) | Copper-containing preparations | For rooting treatments, apply in 3-5% solution, for treatment - in 1% solution | Twice a year | - | |
| Abiga Peak | Copper Chloride 400 g / L | Immediately before use, 40-50 g of suspension is diluted in one liter of water, and then the solution volume is adjusted to 10 l. The solution is not stored. Apply for spraying at air temperature not lower than + 9-11 ° C. | 4 | Three weeks | ||
| Chorus | Cyprodinil | Chemical fungicides | The working solution is prepared immediately before use at a concentration of 3 g / 10l. Apply in the temperature range + 3-25 ° C. | 3 | 7-10 days | 5-7 days |
| Coming soon | Diphenoconazole | Spray the crown with a solution of 2 ml of the drug in 10 l of water. Effective at + 12-25 ° C. | 3 | 2-3 weeks | 20 days | |
| Gates | Kresoxim-methyl | 4 g (for the prevention of 2 g) of the drug are taken per 10 l of water for treatment. Freshly prepared solution should be used in 2-3 hours. | 2-3 | 14 days | 30 days | |
| Fitosporin-M | Spore culture of Bacillus subtilis 26 D | Biological fungicides | The paste is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 2 and stored at room temperature for the season. For spraying, 3 teaspoons of the concentrate is diluted in 10 liters of water. | Unlimited | 1-2 weeks | Fruits can be eaten on the day of processing. |
On sale you can find a large number of fungicides of various brands. It often happens that under different names the same drugs are hidden, having the same active substance in the composition. The gardener needs to know that most antifungal drugs are addictive to fungi and after several times their effectiveness decreases dramatically. Therefore, during treatment, drugs should be alternated without using the same (with the same active substance) more than the permissible number of times (the requirement does not apply to biological products). For this purpose, the table shows the names of the active substance of each drug.
Photo gallery: essential peach curls
- Nitrafen is used for eradicating treatments against fungal diseases and pests.
- Blue vitriol has long been known to gardeners
- Abiga Peak contains 40% copper chloroxide and effectively fights leaf curl
- Chorus against leaf curl is used in spring in the temperature range + 3-25 ° C.
- Speed will protect the peach from curls for 2-3 weeks
- DNOC - potent universal pesticide
- Strobes are used for spraying immediately after preparation of the working solution.
- After spraying peach with biofungicide Fitosporin-M, the fruits can be eaten on the same day
Curl Nectarine Treatment
Nectarine is a variety of peach (it is also called peach, hollow). Since these plants are related, they also have common problems, including exposure to curly leaves. Everything about the disease, its prevention and treatment, given above, is also relevant for nectarine, so it does not make sense to repeat.
Of course, the curliness of peach leaves is an unpleasant disease and requires effort to combat it. But with due diligence to deal with this problem is quite possible, and the reward will be a good harvest of juicy and fragrant fruits.
