Nectarine tree: mites, ants, leaf curl, stunted growth.
cjgw
9 years ago
I planted a dwarf nectarine tree a couple months ago and it's showing some problems. There are lots of ants crawling up the trunk and all over the leaves. There are what appear to be black/grey mites on many of the new leaves which are curled and drying out. The ants and mites seem to be working together. I've been spraying off the ants and mites with water but they keep coming back.
The tree also seems like it should have grown more by now. At this point, it is still just under 2 feet high with just some additional leaves which are the curled ones. The tree was planted with a mix of native clay soil, some compost and a potting soil blend. Any ideas on how I can save it? Thanks!
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Comments (18)
campv 8b AZ
9 years ago
fireballsocal
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Is this peach leaf curl?
Comments (6)It's not peach leaf curl. It looks like leaf curl plum aphid. Here is a link for info about the insect and its management. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r611301811.html The picture is of a winged adult. Most adults are not winged at the time you first notice the curling damage. See link below for what the leaf curl of this pest looks like. I have the critters on a couple of my pluots. I have seen the adult aphids when I uncurled the leaf. They are typical aphid green color as opposed to the brown color in the UC Davis photo in the above link. They are troublesome to control as the aphid stay inside the curl and sprays won't reach inside the tight curl. UC Davis IPM is saying moderate control with dormant oil for the eggs. The pest does not prevent a crop on my pluots although they do reduce the sugar content in the fruit. I have achieved some control by releasing lady bugs directly on the tree. Wet the tree down with the hose before you release the lady bugs. They are thirsty and hungry when released. They'll hang around the tree doing their job if there's food and water conveniently right there. Release at dusk because they are not as apt to fly away in nightime darkness. Tony Here is a link that might be useful: leaf curl plum aphid UC Davis...See Morespecies suceptibility to aphids and spider mites
Comments (3)Interesting. Aphids and mites seem to have a very wide range of plants they will infest, although there seem to be some they like better than others. I will see aphids on young apple growth and leaves sometimes, they seem to like plums, and they like to infest my pie cherries and the ants then start farming them. I also have a pest I forget the name of since I saw it identified in a post here, but it looks like a very small slug or blob of caterpillar poo. It strips the chlorophyll off the leaves on my cherries and plums in late summer. Usually it doesn't seem like enough to really worry about, so I don't. Other times I spray. Your greenhouse creates a special environment which probably encourages some insect pests to be more of a problem than others. I often see fruit trees or garden plants which will seem resistant to a pest, then suddenly the plant gets a little dry or puts on a growth spurt or something, and whack, something really attacks it. A nice example is leaf cutter bees and potatoes. Normally, the bees (not a pest except when they aren't out in the fields doing their pollination jobs) don't hardly touch the potatoes, but if I let them get a bit dry and the leaves wilt during mid day, the bees will start on them and from then on, even if well watered, they really go after the leaves until the plants are pretty well stripped. All I have ever been able to conclude is that a change in environmental conditions suddenly makes the plant susceptible/attractive where they normally aren't. In a green house environment(or at least indoors), leaves often seem to be less rugged because they are protected from the strongest rays of the sun and from really strong winds. This would tend to make them easier for some pests to go after, and once present, the pests often don't face the predators and climate extremes that may control their numbers. This year we have had hoards of grasshoppers the last few weeks. I have a bunch of very small apple and apricot trees which are planted in the corner of an alfalfa field. The alfalfa really choked the trees and got ahead of them this summer and I didn't have time to clean things out, plus water was pretty irregular during the summer so everything suffered from drought. Then came the grasshoppers who have pretty much left me with alfalfa stems and virtually stripped the small trees of their leaves. Just a short distance away, I have more trees that get a lot more care and don't have any competition, and the grasshoppers just don't touch them....See MoreOld Spider Mite Remedies
Comments (29)Hey did use the buttermilk and flour. I was a little skeptic. I used it Friday, it rained Friday night and Saturday. It did kill the mites. What dried on my arm hair was very hard to get off without water. I saw some over spray on the side of my truck. It would not rub off. I know it will with water and soap. It did not bother my mantis. So for Less than $ 5.00 I sprayed and entire acre. I like it and will use it again. Will it kill the eggs as was stated the jury is out on this also. I did run into a product which I want to try. It is wilt-pruf. I was googling how do spider mites migrate. It seems they use their webbing and air to recolonize elsewhere. I ran into a rose site where they were having mite problems. They used wilt-pruf and it stopped the infestations and it did not come back. Well a little research showed it it be an effective product to stop plants from wilting in the sun and allow transplants in the summer without total defoliation. So if I were to hypothesize it may put a thick enough protective coating on the plant that mites will not bother it. Mites are very selective in what they invade. I imagine a lot has to do with cell structure and the ability to get nutrients. Brugs transpire as much as any plant I know of and have very thin walled leaves. I would make my life easier. I need to find some today and try it. It might also allow some of my mis planted brugs to survive the summer without a replant. I will let yall (Texan) know what is the outcome of the buttermilk and wilt-pruf trial. Here is my little bakery with a new pump. I sprayed at about 80 PSI to make sure it flipped the bottom of the leaves up. Jim...See MoreCurled Leaves (Apple, Citrus, Figs, etc.)
Comments (4)Thanks all. Like everywhere, the soil at my place is variable in composition and texture, so I am still figuring out the water needs from spot to spot. For example, I have a young vineyard elsewhere on the property, and we just did our first irrigation of the year this week!! I have a consultant who comes once a week and accurately measures subsoil (i.e., 2' and 3') moisture in the vineyard with a neutron probe. The soil out there apparently retains moisture fairly well. The soil around my garden area, however, is much coarser, and somewhat rocky in places. Also, the soil hasn't been amended like it has in the vineyard area. Until the trees I plant get more accustomed to the nutrient poor, coarse, native soil (and my composting/fertilizing program begins to make a difference), I will increase the water some. I will also check more closely for aphid, mite and miner pressure. I don't how much activity it takes to affect the shapes of the leaves (they're not krinkled, puckered, rolled or discolored, just shaped like an open "V"), but I suppose that if I look hard enough, I'll see it if it is there....See More
Bradybb WA-Zone8
9 years agocjgw
9 years agoBradybb WA-Zone8
9 years ago
Kevin Reilly
9 years agocampv 8b AZ
9 years agocjgw
9 years agoBradybb, there's some redness and yellowing of some leaves but no bubble-like lesions that I can see. Some of the curled leaves with red/brown spots look very chewed up as seen in the photo below.
It seems the ants are definitely moving/protecting the aphids. I saw an ant actually carrying one. Yes, it's been very dry here in the East Bay. So I hope that means no fungus. How does it look from the pic?
Bradybb WA-Zone8
9 years agocjgw
9 years agocjgw
9 years agofireballsocal
9 years agocjgw
9 years agofireballsocal
9 years agoBradybb WA-Zone8
9 years agoHU-296762314
4 years ago
This is happening to my dwarf nectarine on all new fruit it does not have curly leaf and is very healthy help pls
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Bradybb WA-Zone8