17 June 2009
Home grown peaches are DELICIOUS, and if you want to grow your own, give it a try. But at this time of year you'll need to watch out for peach leaf curl on peaches, nectarines and almonds. It is a fungal infection caused by Taphrina deformans.
Its about now and has attacked my new peach tree (which is a variety many claim to be resistant !) The leaves become swollen, puckered, seriously distorted and often develop red or purple colours, followed by a white bloom as the layer of spores develops on the surface. If you see it try to pick the infected leaves off as soon as possible, ideally before that spore layer develops. A second flush of healthy leaves generally appears, so it is worth giving the infected tree a feed too.
If you're happy to spray, a copper-based fungicide applied when the leaves fall in the autumn and then again a couple of times in mid- and late-winter should help clean the tree up.
Peaches and nectarines growing under glass rarely get this disease as the spores don't make it to the tree, so mimic this effect by getting a clear polythene , open-sided shelter in place over wall-trained trees. Provided it covers the tree and is in place from mid-winter until late spring, this simple method keeps clean trees free from the infection.
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