Sad Plum Tree

[Hains]

My newish dwarf Victoria Plum tree, planted about three months ago, is looking rather lackluster.

The leaves are a little wilted and some have brown tips, The fruit is a good size and seems ok.

The ground is still very wet after the very high June rainfall.

I cannot see any obvious sign of pest or desease, although I am a novice.

My neighbour has a mature tree that is thriving and the leaves are very green and full.

Would appreciate any advice.

[rustylady]

Hi Hains, welcome to the Vine. Whereabouts are you? It would help if you add your location to your profile. Is your plum tree in a pot or in the ground?

[Hains]

I am in Essex rustylady. The tree is in the ground.

[FB.]

Can you put up a picture? A picture should help nail the problem.

There are many possibilities for the problem - one of which could be that your neightbour's old tree is carrying diseases but is strong enough to tolerate them, but perhaps they are being passed to your young Victoria (which doesn't have much ability to resist disease) and causing it to struggle to establish under the weight of pests or diseases.

[Hains]

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow FB. I am taking some leaf cuttings to the garden centre where I purchased the tree, later today. They are a well established centre and have staff that can offer good advice.

The problem is getting worse by the day. The leaves are curling,(as with leaf curl),
but there is no sign of a grub inside.

I am sure they will sell me something to try and cure it!

[FB.]

Most fruit trees are very prone to aphids. Aphid damage is usually tolerable if the tree has adequate vigour.
Interestingly, I have noticed that aphid damage seems to enhance production of side branches, probably due to damage to the leaders, which presumably has an effect similar to mild pruning or pinching out the tips.

Aphids cause leaves to curl, crinkle, and turn brittle. Eventually severely damaged leaves may turn yellow-brown, shrivel and die.
In the meantime, a predator may have eaten the aphids or the aphids may have moved on to new soft shoots elsewhere. Aphids like soft shoots but not older harder shoots.

[Hains]

Thanks FB

I took some leaf cuttings to the garden centre, and they advised that the tree may be lacking water, but it is in the wettest part of the garden and I have been careful to make sure it does not dry out. That can't be my problem

The condition of the leaves is very poor now and it looks worse every day. One of the smaller plums fell off yesterday which shocked me a bit, it had started to wither.

I have noticed a few aphids but only on some leaves, it is not infested. I shall try to treat it as an aphid
problem. What can I safely spray it with ?

[FB.]

Fruits withering can simply be the "June drop" when the tree sheds some or all of the fruits that it simply can't support. Young trees are especially bad for dropping fruit.

If the nursery insist that it looks like lack of water but you claim to have watered adequately, I would suspect some kind of canker infection of the trunk which is cutting off the sapflow.
Examine the trunk all the way down to the ground for sunken, oozing or discoloured areas of bark.

Aphids can be killed with all kinds of sprays - almost any "bug clear" kind of spray. But the spray isn't always easy to get inside the curled leaves (aphids cause leaves to curl to hide and protect them!).
Normally, a tree with adequate food and water would outgrow the aphids, so it still suggests a sick tree, or one that isn't establishing well. If an aphid infestation is only mild, it is not worth treating.

When planted, did you simply dig a hole of the same size as the rootball and drop it in? If so, your spade may have compacted the sides of the hole so that roots can't grow outwards.
Additionally, if container-grown, the nursery compost will be much richer than your "native" garden soil, so the roots will be reluctant to grow from compost into poor soil. Use of mulches and fertiliser would encourage root growth.
I always break up the outermost part of the rootball of container plants and spread those loosened roots into a large hole with forked-over bottom and sides, to force roots to grow outwards.

[FB.]

I also note that you're in Essex - not too far from me.

I find that rainfall is low and soil is poor in many parts of this area. I had to abandon plums and pears because even the St.Julien"A" and Quince"A" rootstocks simply would not thrive in my soil, no matter hoiw much I fed an watered. In my opinion, most trees sold at garden centres and nurseries in this area are not suitable for most of the local soils; they are not generally vigorous enough for the very low rainfall and relatively shallow/poor soils in the East of England.

[Hains]

Thanks for the advice FB

My soil is poor. Heavy Clay. I dug the hole as wide as I could and planted in a shrub and tree compost.

I have now fed the tree with a slow release feed.

Could overwatering cause the same symptoms?

Re the bark, I have noticed some pinhead sized yellowish raised spots. Could this be a disease of some type?

[FB.]

If the soil is too heavy, the roots may be literally drowning and rotting - hence the upper part of the tree now showing signs of decline. Roots need a small amount of air in the soil for normal function. Plums are slightly more tolerant of heavier soils than other fruit trees, but no air in the soil = no root function and ultimately root death.

With very heavy soils, trees can be planted on a mound of soil to keep the upper roots and base of the trunk clear from the waterlogged conditions. Alternatively, at the time of digging the planting hole, digging-in lots of sand and compost into the soil in the area of the expected mature plants root/canopy spread can help with air and drainage. About equal mixtures of clay, sand and compost is a good balance between drainage, moisture retention and nutrients.

Can you put up a picture of the pinhead spots on the trunk and the sickly looking leaves?

[Hains]

I will try to put up some pictures at the weekend.

[midnight]

i used a washing up liquid , adding water , then spray , kills them stone dead,works out a lot cheaper too, robbie, alias midnight

[Kelvinfinney]

Same with mine

Hi also new here
And my vic plum tree is doing just the same we was told after repotting it to prune some of the branches
Since then it's looking very sorry for it's self