I have a new plum tree (this year ) and the leaves are becoming pale, cannot find any aphids and it does not look like peach leaf curl,any ideas?

On Jul 22, 8:52*pm, marigold
wrote:
I have a new plum tree (this year ) and the leaves are becoming pale,
cannot find any aphids and it does not look like peach leaf curl,any
ideas?

--
marigold

Water it. Lotsofwater. (These showers don't penetrate the ground very
far).

It sounds like a nutrient deficiency. An aphid infestation heavy enough to upset the plant would cause at least some of the leaves to crumple.

If you've only recently planted it, the roots are still settling and maybe not being very efficient. I wouldn't use any fertiliser on it until you've established that it's getting plenty of water. Don't just rely on the top surface being wet - it's easy to water and soak the top inch or so, and still have dry soil underneath.

It's not going to die on you suddenly so don't panic - you've got time to try first, more water, and if that doesn't work, some fertiliser.

Meanwhile - can you tell us more about the pale leaves? Is it all of them, or are the new leaves still dark green? Is it the whole leaf, or are the veins dark green with yellow bits between?

harry wrote in news:ee620c5e-9f1a-49c0-b9ab-
:

On Jul 22, 8:52*pm, marigold
wrote:
I have a new plum tree (this year ) and the leaves are becoming pale,
cannot find any aphids and it does not look like peach leaf curl,any
ideas?

--
marigold

Water it. Lotsofwater. (These showers don't penetrate the ground very
far).


Yes, my neighbours think I have a slate loose, I am out every day with the
watering can, rain or no rain.

Baz

On Jul 23, 11:36*am, kay wrote:
marigold;930748 Wrote:

I have a new plum tree (this year ) and the leaves are becoming pale,
cannot find any aphids and it does not look like peach leaf curl,any
ideas?

It sounds like a nutrient deficiency. An aphid infestation heavy enough
to upset the plant would cause at least some of the leaves to crumple.

If you've only recently planted it, the roots are still settling and
maybe not being very efficient. I wouldn't use any fertiliser on it
until you've established that it's getting plenty of water. Don't just
rely on the top surface being wet - it's easy to water and soak the top
inch or so, and still have dry soil underneath.

It's not going to die on you suddenly so don't panic - you've got time
to try first, more water, and if that doesn't work, some fertiliser.

Meanwhile - can you tell us more about the pale leaves? Is it all of
them, or are the new leaves still dark green? Is it the whole leaf, or
are the veins dark green with yellow bits between?

--
kay

If you want to you could use a weak liquid feed in the water you give
it, but when you water use a bucket and give it 2 or 3 buckets full,
applied slowley so it soaks in to the ground close to the tree.

Thanks all,the leaves seem to be fairly uniform in their colour loss,no prominent veins and all of the leaves were new and they have all discoloured,I will try the heavy watering even though I think I have been carefull not to let it get dry.
What feed would you recommend?

Have you tried digging into the ground with a twig or a finger a few inches? Sometimes you will find the top half inch wet where you've watered it, but the ground underneath dry - I've been gardening for years, and I still get caught out!

Unless you have had rainfall of at least 1.5cm within the last few days, every week put a full 2gal watering can of water on to the square foot of ground around the plum. You may need to do this twice or 3 times a week if you're having hot sunny days.

Actually - how do you know they have discoloured? Do you have some darker leaves to compare them with? And remember that new growth is always lighter green than older growth.

Will try digging a few inches down to see if the soil is damp(or not),and the leaves were darker green when they first appeared,they look sickly and have started to curl upwards.The tree is on my allotment and has some courgettes and toms planted around it,but nothing within a square foot and they are thriving.

If it was a container grown plant, and became rootbound, and you did not tease out the roots, it is very difficult for water to get into the rootball, and very difficult for roots to get out of the rootball into the surrounding soil to find water. Except for a few plants that hate their roots being interfered with, it is essential to tease out the roots of container grown plants when planting them out. Even knowing this, I've still had plants die on me because they remained rootbound because I didn't tease out the roots thoroughly enough.

Thanks,I did tease out the roots but maybe not well enough.Still hoping I can save it.