Plum tree, please help?

Question

I have a plum tree, 4 years old. I have in the past had lovely fruit from it, but this year the leaves have gone really curly & there is no sign of fruit. Anybody got any ideas plz. Tnx

Answer 1

The curling is silver leaf.

No one has many plums or damsons here in the south of England this year. Where are all the bees?

Answer 2

here are some websites

hope they help

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums...

http://www.paulplum.com/

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortisc...

Answer 3

Leaf curl on stone fruit is a common funghal problem. Early bearing varieties are worst hit because the tree will usualy shed those curly leaves and grow a new set. The problem is only on leaves that open in spring later on the funghus is dormant.

you should spray your tree next year before the buds burst open, but just before, so keep and I on the buds and watch for swelling.  What you use is up to you but I'd use a sulfur spray and not too strong. Your H'ware or Garden centre will advise you which to use.

Answer 4

I don't know about the curly leaves but plum trees are known to bear a good crop of fruit some years and a poor crop other years.

Answer 5

The curly leaves are probably caused by aphids.  Try encouraging ladybirds and hoverflies with stinging nettles and poached egg plant.  Buckwheat is supposed to be good too. Leaf Curl aphids are not usually too serious a problem and would not stop the fruit. Some folk like to spray the aphids, but I tend to look on them as food for other wildlife.

My garden is full of plums, and there is little fruit anywhere here either.  Two things tend to wreck the plum harvest.  One is a late frost that catches the blossom at the wrong time. The other is a shortage of bees.

I suspect the real problem is that there are not many honeybees left surviving from attack from verroa and insecticide to pollinate the plums.

Or it may simply be, that after last year's bumper crop, the tree is having a rest.