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[Pliljeros]

Hello.  I have two plum trees in my garden and I have (at least) 3 problems with them, that I think I have identified, but am very happy to be corrected, and will be even more grateful if anyone can offer any advice on how to resolve them please.  The trees are approximate 8 years old, and :
1) for the last 3 years have had leaf curl.
2) Last year the fruits withered, fell and dropped, and when cut open and holes inside with black/brown deposits and
3) this year, the fruit (although bountiful) is mishappen, and when cut open have no stones.
I think the above has been caused by following:
1) leaf curl aphids
2) Plum moths
3) Pocket plum

but I am by no means an expert, so everything I have stated are assumptions based on google research so as I said, if anyone can offer me any advice at all it will be much appreciated.  I should maybe add that I live in the UK.  Thank you very much in advance, Paul

[Fatzo]

Hi Paul, no answer yet I guess it’s because the answer isn’t very easy! I’ll give it a shot…

First of all, I think you’re right about the diagnosis. The leaf curl is usually a fungus, though, but aphids spread it out.

Both leaf curl and pocket plum are related. I read in the RHS website here that there isn’t much to do except prune off the weird growths and control the fungus with sprays, I know I used this one against leaf curl and it worked but only in the following year. The RHS also recommends protecting the tree from rain and that makes sense because fungus mostly only sprout when leaves are wet.  Maybe a combination of all this will work to protect the tree next year and at least reduce it somewhat for this year.

For the moth worms, maybe the solution is to inspect the fruits and look for holes that would show where the moth laid eggs. It’s like a codling moth. They say pheromone traps are the way to go but I haven’t tried that yet. A spray that has Bacillus thuringiensis inside, that might help somewhat.

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Loving the season!

[jakipop]

Substantial info. Thanks. Pear tree also suffering from leaf curls, again caused by aphids?

[Pliljeros]

Hi Fatzo and Jakipop, thank you very much for your responses and sorry for the late reply.  I have to admit, I received a message from RHS a couple of days ago and they confirmed my thoughts, and your comments!  I am repeating much of what you have advised, but thought I could sumarise in case anyone else needs the answers.  I have indeed managed to get all 3 and there are no really easy solutions.  In short, what I have learnt so far is:
the aphids can be improved with predators like earwigs, ladybirds and lacewings, but as they don’t really affect crop too much, I think the suggestion was not too worry too much.  While I can tackle the plum moth with a moth trap (which I have now purchased and installed), the pocket plum appears to be airborne, and the best course of action for both is it to remove the infected fruit as quickly as possible, and branches at the end of the season.
I wil investigate the links you have provided, and have included the links the RHS gave me – I will of course willingly remove, or accept removal if this breaks any forum rules.
http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=681
http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=554
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=199

Kindest Regards, Paul

 

[Fatzo]

Hi Paul thanks for sharing the news. Hope you’ll get the disease under control. Curious about that moth trap, what does it look like? Do you have to replace it often?

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Loving the season!

[Pliljeros]

The sticky base lasts 5 weeks apparently, and you get 2 (+2 phermone plugs) in each pack.  It blends into the foliage quite well – barely visible in the 1st tree picture – maybe too well … not convinced I have caught any of the little blighters yet so maybe they can’t even see it 😡   I bought mine in a set of 3 from https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D6NJ748/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Self build but by no means difficult!

[Fatzo]

Love it! It’s really discreet, too. Not at all like the bright yellow ones they use to protect olive trees, you’re lucky the buggers follow their noses in this case. Thanks for showing how it looks. Origami style :p

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Loving the season!

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