Foliage damage to black cherry - Ask Extension
This is the last one!
Seeing massive leaf drop from my black cherry trees. Brown, almost warty damage to leaves. What’s going on? Will it kill the ...
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Foliage damage to black cherry #643157
Asked May 29, 2020, 5:43 PM EDT
This is the last one!
Seeing massive leaf drop from my black cherry trees. Brown, almost warty damage to leaves. What’s going on? Will it kill the trees? Take and dispose of leaves?
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi - This looks like symptoms of Taphrina, a fungal disease that causes distortion as well as defoliation. There is information about it on our website (see peach leaf curl), https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/diseases-stone-fruit
If these are wild or ornamental flowering black cherries, we don not typically recommend a fungicide treatment. A fungicide will not cure symptoms that are already present. Clean up and remove the fallen foliage from the planting area to reduce fungal inoculum that can overwinter. Put it in the trash, not compost. Fungal diseases tend to be worse when we have wet, cool spring weather. They are less of an issue in drier years.
That said, if you are managing black cherry trees for fruit production, you will have to follow a spray schedule (beginning before symptoms appear in the spring). We recommend following Virginia Tech's spray schedule for home fruit production, https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/home-fruit-preventative-spray-schedule
Christa
If these are wild or ornamental flowering black cherries, we don not typically recommend a fungicide treatment. A fungicide will not cure symptoms that are already present. Clean up and remove the fallen foliage from the planting area to reduce fungal inoculum that can overwinter. Put it in the trash, not compost. Fungal diseases tend to be worse when we have wet, cool spring weather. They are less of an issue in drier years.
That said, if you are managing black cherry trees for fruit production, you will have to follow a spray schedule (beginning before symptoms appear in the spring). We recommend following Virginia Tech's spray schedule for home fruit production, https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/home-fruit-preventative-spray-schedule
Christa
