I have a young cherry tree but recently the leaves at the end of the branches have curled and gone brown. Help

Question

I have a young cherry tree but recently the leaves at the end of the branches have curled and gone brown. It gets enough water and there is no blackfly or greenfly on the tips. How to remedy this???

Answer 1

Well said Melon!

There are too few details and far too many variables to diagnose your problem Gled.

How much sun, wind, water and drainage your tree has are only the start. Moving it? What for? So you can shock it some more?

Stick with it. It'll probably grow through it anyway.

Answer 2

Most likely to be the sun and the wind, if you can move it, move it to a more sheltered place until it grows up and give it feed now and again.  If you can not move it, give it some plant feed and take off the dead leaves.

Note i had the same problem with my 2 cherry trees which i keep in big pots until they are big enough.  They were bare or curlled leaves, last year. I watered and fed them and they are full of leaves and much healther this year

Answer 3

I agree you need help from someone with real experience... and the extension office folks usually have who you need..... personally, the borers were my first thought, rather than a virus.... but blight is a possibility, too.... and I'd hope it's neither!!.... could be just a cicada!!.... but you need someone to tell you true, WHICH it is, so you can act accordingly.... if not the extension office, then an arborist for sure!!.... luck to ya!

Answer 4

Whenever a plant has brown leaves that curl upward, and this is a sudden symptom despite sufficient water and sun, I have to think of leaf curl virus.  Many plants, like tomatoes/peppers, peaches and squash have their native leaf curl virus.

In the cherry tree I'm thinking it's the cherry leaf curl (or roll) virus.  As in other leaf curl/roll virus, there is no cure or treatment other than destroying the tree.  But you can make its life comfortable by removing the dead leaves and feeding it a good fertilizer and making sure it gets the sun and water it needs.  Don't expect healthy fruit though.

Contact your local county extension office for more details.  If you live near one you could even bring in a sample and have it diagnosed for free, this way knowing for sure what is ailing your cherry tree.  

Extension offices are cooperation efforts with state colleges and universities, many that have horicultural science centers to study fruit and vegetable diseases.  The volunteers at your local extension office are probably aware of the curl leaf viri that are in your area.

Answer 5

Rubbish...c**p advice from top contributor and scare-mongering to boot. God I hate people who are ready to tell you your tree is good as dead, has a fatal virus and to just "make it's life comfortable" and then what? burn it?

Don't listen to them...they are just anonymous bods on a silly website. Even a tree doctor couldn't give you that diagnosis by just reading a few lines of description.

I also have a young cherry tree...and also the leaves are curling...not all, just some. Which makes me believe it's a common thing and nothing to worry about. Funny thing is that in the spring it was absolutely fine...then going into summer the leaves started curling. I'm pretty sure it's just to do with it being immature as yours probably is and nothing to worry about.

Ok miss tree expert...are you going to say now that mine has the Cherry Tree Curl virus and not to expect it to produce nice cherries? Well sorry to burst your bubble but mine is a Japanese cherry tree and does not produce fruit ANYWAY.

God sake some people on here are pretentious idiots.