Cherry Tree Losing Leaves - Ask Extension
Hello,
We have two fruit trees. One is a sour cherry tree that has a white mildew on its leaves and didn't produce cherries this year. The other frui...
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Cherry Tree Losing Leaves #710923
Asked August 08, 2020, 11:05 AM EDT
Hello,
We have two fruit trees. One is a sour cherry tree that has a white mildew on its leaves and didn't produce cherries this year. The other fruit tree, I believe is a sweet cherry tree (birds ate all the fruit before I could tell the type of fruit). It started getting brown spots, leaves turned yellow and dropped. It didn't produce fruit this year and some branches had few or no leaves.
The first picture is the sour cherry tree. The other pictures are the sweet cherry tree.
Also, could I hire an arborist from from MSU or could you recommend a company?
Thank you! Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
-Kristen
Ingham County Michigan
Expert Response
The tart cherry does have the disease powdery mildew, which is primarily a leaf disease. This disease is a common problem in the Traverse City commercial orchards, but is less common further south in Michigan. It is favored by cool springs.
This link gives a general overview. For backyard situations the fungicide myclobutanil is available which can be found in the product Immunox, if you think it is bad enough to control The timing for sprays is starting about 1 1/2 weeks after petal fall (first cover).
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/controlling_powdery_mildew_in_tart_cherry_orchards
Sweet cherries are less prone to powdery mildew. You may be dealing with bacterial canker which can cause leaf spots and invades spurs (short branches) causing the leaves to eventually drop. There is not really a good control measure for bacterial canker. Some sweet cherry varieties are more prone to it.
This link gives a general overview. For backyard situations the fungicide myclobutanil is available which can be found in the product Immunox, if you think it is bad enough to control The timing for sprays is starting about 1 1/2 weeks after petal fall (first cover).
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/controlling_powdery_mildew_in_tart_cherry_orchards
Sweet cherries are less prone to powdery mildew. You may be dealing with bacterial canker which can cause leaf spots and invades spurs (short branches) causing the leaves to eventually drop. There is not really a good control measure for bacterial canker. Some sweet cherry varieties are more prone to it.
