Multiple Fruit tree disease or pest?

[Ben1030]

Hi

This is my first post on the forum so go easy on me

I have a variety of patio fruit trees i bought in the spring from different sources, an apple, cherry and nectarine. Since the spring growth I’ve noticed a similar problem with leaves on all three trees as well as my strawberries and rhubarb. I’m hoping this could possibly be due to the cold spring we experience or an easily eradicated pest.

I have taken the following pics, the condition of the leaves doesn’t look too bad on these as I had already removed the worst affected leaves last week. The worst affected leaves were curled or deformed with black edges and/or holes.

Apple



Cherry





Nectarine



Strawberry, Rhubarb and Bay Tree
302811D0-7D17-4409-8430-CA2E82FA3BEA-4367-0000039BE74E1F85.jpg Photo by Ben1030 | Photobucket

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Ben1...7396DF.jpg.htm

[F89CDDB3-EE2E-4426-AE47-4DB28CA71838-4367-0000039BD2FB686D.jpg Photo by Ben1030 | Photobucket
Thanks

Ben

[FB.]

If they were my plants I would not be concerned at the moment - but if in doubt keep an eye on it and post some more pictures if it gets noticeably worse.

A small amount of pest or disease damage is very common.

[Madasafish]

If they were my plants I would not be concerned at the moment - but if in doubt keep an eye on it and post some more pictures if it gets noticeably worse.

A small amount of pest or disease damage is very common.

Agreed. No signs of frost damage.

[Ben1030]

Thanks for your replies. Would you suggest spraying the leaves with anything cheaply and easily available or just leaving the plants to their own devices for now?

None of them have flowered this year so no fruit till next hopefully

Thanks

Ben

[FB.]

Thanks for your replies. Would you suggest spraying the leaves with anything cheaply and easily available or just leaving the plants to their own devices for now?

None of them have flowered this year so no fruit till next hopefully

Thanks

Ben

Where possible, spraying is best avoided - it's time-consuming, costly, uses toxic chemicals and often causes collateral damage to friendly insects or micro-organisms. I don't spray anything: if a plant can't give me a good crop without needing attention then I don't care if it dies.

Young trees - especially dwarfs - need time to establish before they can crop well. Even if they had flowered, they probably wouldn't have had time to build strong root systems to support the crop - and what few fruits a very young dwarf can produce will mostly be damaged by insects, fungi, birds or other pests - not to mention that the fruit of young trees is often of poor quality because growing shoots and roots directs energy away from producing good fruit (but without lots of roots and shoots it can't provide nutrients and sugars to grow the fruits).

[Ben1030]

The same leaves I took photos of look considerably worse already today. Il monitor over the next few days and take a few more pics.

At least I have the strawberries, tomatoes and limes to look forward to this year

Thanks

Ben

[Two_Sheds]

A small amount of pest or disease damage is very common.

... and indeed, desirable, because we need a few pests to provide food for other animals, eg birds, frogs, dragonflies etc etc

[Ben1030]

The apple seems to be improving since the pictures were taken. The Cherry and nectarine both show similair symptoms, both bought from B&Q in march. Could this be a virus?

[FB.]

Could this be a virus?

Viruses don't often affect multiple different plants (can't say I've ever heard of many cherry viruses but I don't doubt that they exist), and viruses are more likely to show as poor growth, with crinkled and yellow-blotched leaves. But nutrient deficiencies and incorrect soil pH can cause the same appearance.

If it's holes in the leaves, the cause could be slugs/snails, cherry slugworms, caterpillars, capsid bugs, fungal or bacterial. A picture of more severe symptoms would help narrow down the list of problems.

Can you put up a new picture of the problem and say what about the picture is troubling you?

When all is said and done, though, if it's a sickly variety it'll cost a lot more to spray it every year against all the pests and diseases than it will to let it take its chances and buy a replacement if it dies.
In some cases, trees grown in nurseries have become so accustomed to being sprayed to protect them that their natural defences are switched off; only to activate when the plant gets a shock out in the big wide world and realises that it has to fend for itself.

[boundtothesoil]

If they were my plants I would not be concerned at the moment .

I agree with FB. I've found that some varieties tend to produce bubbly/crinkly young leaves at the start of the growing season, almost every year. Warwickshire Drooper plum is particularly badly affected for me this year. I've no reason to suspect this tree is virus-infected, as later leaves are usually much smoother. Plums generally seem to be affected more severely than apples in my experience.

I don't know the precise reason for this type of young leaf distortion at the beginning of the season, but kind of feel that it could be a result of large fluctuations in temperature and plant water relations, possibly with a wind element as well. The programmed expansion of a young leaf occurs at a rate that is sensitive to temperature and also varies diurnally.

[Ben1030]

I purchased in march which was before a solid 2 months of snow and high wind, maybe this could be the cause. I’ve also recently noticed some ants on both trees, crawling up and down and across the leaves.

I have some updated pictures of the 3 trees. The apples doesn’t look as bad, the top leaves seem to be worse on all 3.





Thanks

Ben

[rustylady]

It's minor damage only. You really can't expect every single leaf to be perfect.

Re the ants - have a good look and see if you have any aphids under the leaves.

[Ben1030]

Most of the leaves show the same syntoms, my worry is that its the early signs of a bigger problem

Not seen any aphids as yet, will keep checking

[rustylady]

Methinks you worry too much

[FB.]

Most of the leaves show the same syntoms, my worry is that its the early signs of a bigger problem

Not seen any aphids as yet, will keep checking

No action required, but just keep an eye on it.

My view is that if a fruit tree can't stay healthy and productive under a bit of stress then I might as well let it die and replace with something trouble-free.
I'd rather spend a few quid on a new tree than spend hundreds of quid over many years for chemicals to keep it healthy - not to mention my time in spraying it.

If you lose any of the trees to a pest or disease, come back and ask because a number of people on here - from all corners of the UK - will readily give advice on suitable varieties of fruit to resist certain pests or disease - and which rootstocks would be best suited for the required size in your local conditions.