It's that time of year. They're getting ready to drop.

Sounds normal.

Unless of course, you didn't tell us the rest of the story -- as in, did something occur that you think may have damaged the tree?

We're in San Jouquin Valley of California. It's a brand new tree that we planted in about February. My wife says that she feels that it's been yellow for months. The ground is a little hard there. My idea is Calcium Sulfate.

notned:

If your wife is correct and the tree has had yellow leaves for months, you may have a case of failed graft, or something like serious soil alkalinity in the planting location. My limited knowledge of the San Joaquin Valley is that it is a naturally dry area. In such a situation, heavy mulching and regular watering of a newly planted tree might be required just to get it past the first season. The first season is critical to newly planted fruit trees, and most are lost (or won) during this period.

I don't know what calcium sulphate would do for a tree in this situation. Take a pruning shears and cut through a few of the branch tips to see if the cambium layer is still alive and green. If not, your tree may be on the way out, and you will be left to analyze what more could have been done to get it off to a good start. Certainly, one thing would be to keep a closer eye on it so you at least know when the leaves begin to turn yellow.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Without a better description of the yellowing, it is hard to tell what the cause is, whether it is water related, a nutrient deficiency, a disease, graft failure, or what. Since you brought up spreading calcium sulphate on the soil, whatever gave you this idea may point towards your problem. It could be an iron deficiency. Did your early leaves have a good green color, then later growth came out yellowish, with each shot of new growth getting yellower, maybe to the point that some new leaves were almost white? Do the yellow leaves have a tendency to still have green veins? I think peaches and nectarines are more sensitive to this than some other common plants and trees.

Soils found in dry climates, former lakebeds, or from certain parent materials tend to be alkaline and sometimes salty. Frequently, you will find your soil pH on alkaline soils runs between 7 and 8.5. As you go above 8.5 it gets very difficult to raise our common garden plants. To help reduce the pH and help free up the salts so they can be washed from the soil, calcium sulphate, commonly known as gypsum (found in sheetrock) is used. The sulphur reduces the pH, the calcium replaces the excess salts in the soil and allows them to wash out. This can be a long term process and can take a lot of gypsum over time if your soil has a large content of minerals promoting alkalinity. At pH around 8 or below, I find that most plants will do well although they may need some periodic help.

What happens in alkaline soils is that iron is tied up and mineralized so that it is unavailable to the plants, even though it is often plentiful in the soil. When you lower the pH, the iron becomes available again.

Rather than trying to convert your soil (you could use gypsum for modest adjustments), I would suggest you use iron sulphate, which lowers the pH temporaily and at the same time provides soluble iron available to the plants. New growth will begin coming out green again, although the yellowed leaves will never recover. Iron sulphate can be purchased in 25-50 lb. bags at fertilizer dealers, or as Ironite in your garden center. Spread a cup or two lightly around the base of the tree and several feet out, a rate similar to what you would use to put fertilizer on a lawn.

DON'T get the iron sulphate on cement, rock, or other hard surfaces as it will almost permanently stain them rust colored when they get wet. (I've had this problem)

You can also spray the tree with iron chelate to feed the leaves directly and get quicker results, but you have to keep spraying every couple weeks. To treat a tree in trouble, you might want to spray the tree once or twice and spread iron sulphate on the ground, then in the future, just spread some iron sulphate every year or two at the first sign of leaves starting to yellow.

Before trying this, try to identify the cause. If your soils are alkaline, this won't hurt periodically, but it may be unnecessary if something else is...

Here is a picture of my leaves in varying stages of yellowing. {{gwi:124221}}

I shook the tree tonight and almost all the leaves fell off. The leaves have looked DROOPY for several days now. I have fed it Epsom Salt And Texas green sand. After doing these treatments, it seemed to get worse! Any suggestions? This is a very young tree, no more than an inch in diameter. I don't want to lose it!

Some yellowing of the oldest leaves can occur even this time of yr. But the leaves should not look droopy, that is a sign of serious distress. You could have any number of issues, from disease to too much water. Don't feed the trees any kind of fertilizer when they look droopy. Try too keep the roots moist but not wet. Don't water more than once a wk. But when you do water, soak the soil deeply. About all else you can do is wait.

The Fruitnut

Linda:

Agree with Fruitnut's advice. If you have had a lot of rain, or have been watering heavily, that can affect the roots of a tree. Then again, your soil may be highly alkaline, which is not good either. A very young tree should not have disease problems, so I would look for a problem in the roots or soil.

Greensand shouldn't do any harm to a tree, but I would be careful about applying epsom salts. They are magnesium sulphate, and you can cause excessive levels of magnesium in soils already high in this element. Compost or mulch around the base of a tree is usually a good idea, though that would not cure a problem of excess water.

Truth be told, if nearly all the leaves came off the tree when you shook it, the poor thing may already be on its way out. That should not be happening at this time of year, and indicates something serious in the roots or soil.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I have had the same problem the last two years with my two nectarine trees. Last year I thought it was the drought, so I watered and mulched. I also did not rule out that maybe pesticides/fungicides/stickers in the protective sprays may have caused the yellowing and shedding of the leaves.

The leaves have turned yellow and falled again this year. But, this year we have had rain, perhaps a little too much over a very short time period. The only constant thing has been the spray and the soil. Two entirely different weather patterns so I can not accept drought or too much rain as the cause. I have other varieties of fruit growing in the same area without these problems.

The trees went on last year and produced an excellent crop. All of the leaves obviously did not yellow and fall off, but the ground was covered and it got your attention that there may be a problem. This year the crop is lighter but mostly due to an extreme heavy crop last year and heavy summer pruning last year.

Something in the spray or in the soil could hold the answer.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I am sad to say, though, that the tree did die. I noticed that toward the bottom of the tree, the green layer was still green earlier on, but then eventually, the trunk died as well. I did dig it up prior to it dying, though, and found that it seemed to be rootbound. I tried to relieve it, but that did not work. I believe the roots were just about dead, in any event. I'm no expert, but wouldn't I see a little bit of white root in the root system if it were alive? There was a strand of white, but that was all. It's strange, though, because a couple of very small branges have green tips, probably about 5-6 inches long. Could there still be hope? I have tried to repot it, but it isn't looking good, however, the green tips are still there....I thought that was strange! Any ideas?

I have one Nectarine tree planted among five apple trees. It is now about 6 years old. Each Spring it blossoms out fully and starts to bear fruit. Then the leaves get like canker sores on them and eventually fall off. The apple trees do great. I have sprayed with standard fruit orchard spary as well as a sulfer spray but to no avail. Each year, it does the same thing? Your thoughts?

My leaves are turning yellow also, its a dwarf nectarine in a pot. Im also trying to figure out what to do. I live in las vegas nv

Mine looks bad too. Same deal. Super dwarf nectarine in pot, in Vegas!

new growth is green but the leaves are yellowing and turning brown!

I made a epsom salt solution , 1 teaspoon per 1/2 gallon of water. Hoping that nutrients will boost it! It’s near the end of August and I’m wanting to plant it in ground! My apple trees were bare root and they are fine. I’m hoping this survives! It’s under my garden enclosure and the aluminet to protect it More!