Overgrowth of leaves on plum tree plus curling

[caskin]

Hi One and all,would really appreciate some advice..have a 5yr old plum tree that has constantly gown far too many leaves for any one given area,as of now it begins as soon as season starts.Equally leaves soon curl although there is no sign of any insect attack??
Have included a few pics...these were taken this morning.

I do have another plum tree some 20yds away which is growing normally??

[crichmond]

I have read that you need to prune the roots if the tree is just producing leaves and no fruit if you do a search for prunes or greengage on here you will see plenty of answers and information on how to prune the roots.

[crichmond]

Also check out the link below for plum aphid.

Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Plum Leaf-curling Aphid

And if you check this link below you will see that the person in the thread had to use a magnifier to see them.

leaf curl on plum trees Help! - GardenBanter.co.uk

[FB.]

I'm no expert with plums, but several thoughts come to mind:

Aphid attack (last year, aphids made one of my pear trees leaves look just like your plum).
Other insect attack.
Nutrient deficiency.
Virus.
Genetic mutation.
Frost-nipping of young shoots.

A few more pictures - including a view of a whole branch and a view of the whole tree - might be helpful to diagnose the problem.

Which variety of plum tree is it supposed to be?

[caskin]

Also check out the link below for plum aphid.

Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Plum Leaf-curling Aphid

And if you check this link below you will see that the person in the thread had to use a magnifier to see them.

leaf curl on plum trees Help! - GardenBanter.co.uk

Well they say a day is never wasted if something is learnt!!Many thanks you gave the break I needed,ie the magnifying glass.....not being a spring chicken my eyes are not what they used to be.
The interior of the leaves are alive with microscopic aphids,I note from the link what I can do during next winter,but is there anything I can do now as the fruit is lost as the tree is more important.
Can I use a knockout solution to rid most of them now,and then do the over wintering treatment later?Again my thanks,also to the other menbers who replied.

[FB.]

I usually find that in my chemical-free garden (no chemicals is the key to having a balance of predators to eat the pests), the natural predators eventually come along and eat the aphids.
If you feel the need to do something pro-active, then blast the aphids off with a water pistol or something similar.

[starloc]

You can buy mailorder ladybirds, the baby ladybirds are best, they will clear them in no time, or give them a spray with a solution of neem oil

[crichmond]

The way I see it is there are a couple of options.

1: Organic

and

2: Non Organic

Organic as has been suggested 'neem oil' or 'ladybird larvea'.

Not sure where to get the neem oil, but you can get the ladybird larvae here:

Adult Ladybirds and Lavae - Buy Online

And non organic is available everywhere.

[caskin]

You can buy mailorder ladybirds, the baby ladybirds are best, they will clear them in no time, or give them a spray with a solution of neem oil

The way I see it is there are a couple of options.

1: Organic

and

2: Non Organic

Organic as has been suggested 'neem oil' or 'ladybird larvea'.

Not sure where to get the neem oil, but you can get the ladybird larvae here:

Adult Ladybirds and Lavae - Buy Online

And non organic is available everywhere.

Its very good of you all to assist with this problem.
I did look into the use of ladybird larvae,but apparently it is mainly for use in greenhouses,and even then conditions have to be perfect,temp,humidty etc,,,given all that the experts state that most will escape and it is never a forgone conclusion that they will settle on the tree/plant that you have imported them for,which seems to make it a hit and miss affair?
Neem oil is availabe although government sources deem it illegal to be advertised as an insect repellant,and users state that it is a short term solution...so I am going to rig up my high pressure hose and hit the little blighters where it hurts and then during the winter give the trees a really good suppresive spray... none of this would have been possible without your input..so again mnay thanks

[BFG]

The aphids are probably being farmed by ants, which will protect them from small predators. A grease band around the trunk should stop the ants climbing up.

[BFG]

Insecticide will wipe out all the good guys too. The few bad guys that are left will then multiple like crazy because there's nothing to eat them. You want to try to get a natural balance.

And our bees need a pesticide free alternative to the death trap commercial crops.

[starloc]

The ladybird larvae work, ladybirds just fly off, the larvae will eat whats there till theres none in no time at all, but any cooking oil solution works well ( neem and citrus oil are both better again due to the active chemical components )

Government sources may `deem it illegal if used as a pesticide` but there are licenced pesticides made from it, its used accross the world to stop most nasty insects,it doesnt harm most good insects

If `our` goverment dont allow it ( as far as i know they do allow you to buy products made from it!, remember using cooking oil and washing up liquid is also `illegal` if used as a pesicide or insecticide but not as an oil coating to sufocate insects! ) ,remember the goverment are just money hungry idiots stealing licencing money from companies for a widly used,widely tested,safe product purely to line there pockets with both licencing fees and tax on the finished product to pay themselves high wages for doing nothing but working out more ways to take money from people

The strange fact is that suffocating the pest with an oil, such as neem oil is not illegal, using it as a leaf shine isnt either, using the pesticide properties may well be without a licence , if you dont want to stop them.... just to kill them... by coating them with oil then it should be fine to use as thats not an insecicide or pesticide, just ignore the fact there is a proved active ingredient in the oil, or just use sunflower oil it works just not as well

Washing them off the leaves with water will not work well, they will just climb/fly back up