aylesburyduck wrote in
message . ..

I am new to the world of gardening and have moved to a house with an
established victoria plum tree, which is lovely.

After a good crop of fruit (although the early ripe fruit had maggots),
the tree is looking very sad now. The bright green leaves have bright
yellow spots blooming on the top surface. Under the leaves are little
raised brown dusty spots, all over. The leaves are drying up, curling
and dropping off.

Can you help me with what this is and what I should do about it.
Many thanks.


--
aylesburyduck

Hi Duck,

Probably the best thing you can do is stop worrying. It sounds as if you
have an otherwise healthy tree, which is cropping well. Plums often throw
up a few leaf-spot, leaf curl and bug problems. Because you wish to eat the
crop, spraying with poisons is not a good idea, although you could try
hanging a codling moth trap in the tree to target the maggot problem. Ask
at your local garden centre.

Now that you've harvested the fruit, it's a good idea to check for mouldy
fruits left on the tree, and remove them. If you don't, the fungal spores
will lay dormant on the tree and infect the next crop. It is also very
worthwhile collecting all the fallen leaves and disposing of them.

Plum trees (and Prunus spp. generally), are prone to Silver Leaf Disease,
another fungal problem. To minimise this risk, always prune your tree
during the summer in hot, dry weather. If - due to an exceptional crop - a
branch breaks, trim it back to healthy wood as a matter of urgency, again in
good weather. Also, avoid scarring the bark when mowing or strimming.

Only consider spraying your tree as a last resort, ie if the tree appears to
be materially weakened by the onslaught of disease. Because your tree is
deciduous (losing its leaves in autumn), the problem is now mostly cosmetic.
The problem will be solved in a few weeks, anyway. Next season, you may
like to start a feeding regime: a healthy tree is better able to fight off
diseases.

Hope this helps.
Spider