Knowledgebase

2-way pear: leaves do not fully open #637313

Asked May 18, 2020, 12:57 PM EDT

My 3-way pear, planted earlier this spring, has leaves that do not want to open. See attached photos. The pear varieties are comice, anjou and bartlett. Linda Schield otf+<personal data hidden><personal data hidden>

Lane County Oregon

Expert Response

This is likely caused by a leafroller, a common spring insect problem on fruit trees. Several important tree fruit pests belong to the family of tortricid moths called leafrollers. Most are native North American insects that use several species of native plants as hosts, in addition to feeding on commercial tree fruits. The name leafroller comes from the larvae’s habit of rolling or tying leaves together when building feeding sites or shelters. The leafrollers most often found in mature apple orchards in Washington are pandemis leafroller and obliquebanded leafroller. Both have two generations a year. Although they feed primarily on foliage, fruit can be damaged when the foliage is close to or touching fruit, or when fruit is in clusters. The fruittree leafroller has only one generation a year and is rare in commercial orchards in Washington, although it is a serious problem in some British Columbia orchards. The European leafroller is found in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. It also has only one generation each year.

Here is a publication to check out:

http://treefruit.wsu.edu/crop-protection/opm/leafrollers/

Hope this helps!

Chris Rusch Replied May 18, 2020, 11:25 PM EDT

Loading ...