Problem with Damson Tree
We have a Damson tree (Merryweather) in our garden which has a problem.
Some of the leaves have become very "scrunched up" like a screwed up piece of paper and some of the fruits are turning yellow. Does anybody have an idea of what it is and what can be done to help it. TIA -- Steve |
Problem with Damson Tree
Steve Rainbird wrote:
We have a Damson tree (Merryweather) in our garden which has a problem. Some of the leaves have become very "scrunched up" like a screwed up piece of paper and some of the fruits are turning yellow. Does anybody have an idea of what it is and what can be done to help it. Silver leaf disease. It's a fungus that affects the Prunus family. http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/shbpub44.htm |
Problem with Damson Tree
"Frank Booth Snr" wrote in message
... Steve Rainbird wrote: We have a Damson tree (Merryweather) in our garden which has a problem. Some of the leaves have become very "scrunched up" like a screwed up piece of paper and some of the fruits are turning yellow. Does anybody have an idea of what it is and what can be done to help it. Silver leaf disease. It's a fungus that affects the Prunus family. http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/shbpub44.htm Thanks but I don't think its that if this is what that looks like. http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ilver_leaf.asp -- Steve |
Problem with Damson Tree
Frank Booth Snr writes
Steve Rainbird wrote: We have a Damson tree (Merryweather) in our garden which has a problem. Some of the leaves have become very "scrunched up" like a screwed up piece of paper and some of the fruits are turning yellow. Does anybody have an idea of what it is and what can be done to help it. Silver leaf disease. It's a fungus that affects the Prunus family. Genus, not family ;-) -- Kay |
Problem with Damson Tree
Steve
It is hard to day without seeing it but sounds like a plum leaf curl aphid. It is a common pest that affects all plum - gages & damsons. Picture on the RHS site at http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...plum_aphid.asp Does it look anything like this? Have recently seen sloes that were hard and shriveled looking like they were dried last year - but inspection with a hand lens show the presence of a small white / translucent spider - like a red spider mite without the colour. Might be worth a look at the fruit Regards Clifford Bawtry, Doncaster, UK |
Problem with Damson Tree
"cliff_the_gardener" wrote in message
oups.com... Steve It is hard to day without seeing it but sounds like a plum leaf curl aphid. It is a common pest that affects all plum - gages & damsons. Picture on the RHS site at http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...plum_aphid.asp Does it look anything like this? Have recently seen sloes that were hard and shriveled looking like they were dried last year - but inspection with a hand lens show the presence of a small white / translucent spider - like a red spider mite without the colour. Might be worth a look at the fruit Regards Clifford Bawtry, Doncaster, UK Yep I think that's it. Unfortunately the tree is only about 3 years old and it says "Heavy attacks on a young tree can be more serious as the tree's growth can be reduced. ". We will have to wait and see what happens. Thanks Clifford. -- Steve |
Problem with Damson Tree
cliff_the_gardener wrote:
It is hard to day without seeing it but sounds like a plum leaf curl aphid. It is a common pest that affects all plum - gages & damsons. Picture on the RHS site at http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...plum_aphid.asp Does it look anything like this? I noticed my damson tree with similar symptoms this weekend. Many leaves curled up with small colonies of creatures inside covered with a white hairy layer. From reading this thread I assumed it was plum leaf curl aphid, but it looks much more like mealy plum aphid from this page: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/C611/m611fpaphid.html Certainly the leaves aren't nearly as curled as the picture on the right, and the creatures were covered with a white layer. But that is an American site. Do we have mealy plum aphids in the UK, and do they commonly affect damsons? Peter |
Problem with Damson Tree
Peter
With the caviat of not having seen the problem. I am not familliar with mealy plum aphid. Having checked Stefan Buczacki's Pest, Diseases & Disorders of garden plants - he does list it. He states that the leaves are not deformed by this pest, they exude a lot of honeydew resulting in sooty moulds (as leaf curl aphid does later in the season) and that it does not build up to damaging levels until mid summer. If the leaves are curled then I would suggest it is plum leaf curl aphid. Regards Clifford Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
Problem with Damson Tree
cliff_the_gardener wrote:
With the caviat of not having seen the problem. I am not familliar with mealy plum aphid. Having checked Stefan Buczacki's Pest, Diseases & Disorders of garden plants - he does list it. He states that the leaves are not deformed by this pest, they exude a lot of honeydew resulting in sooty moulds (as leaf curl aphid does later in the season) and that it does not build up to damaging levels until mid summer. Thank you for going to the trouble of looking it up, and apologies for not replying earlier - there's always so much to do outside! If the leaves are curled then I would suggest it is plum leaf curl aphid. It may well be, but happily it doesn't seem to have got much worse. It's not affecting every leaf by any means, and even the worst leaves don't seem to have more than a few dozen aphids. When I first saw them I expected they would quickly multiply and become a serious problem. In fact since about May I haven't been much troubled by aphids on anything this year. I'm not sure whether it's the weather, the ladybirds or my ministrations, but I'm hard pressed to find any blackfly on my runner beans at all now, so I've mostly stopped bothering to squish them. Plenty of ladybirds (adults and larvae) last time I looked. Peter |
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