Knowledgebase
Yellowing of leaves for nectarine plant #754304
Asked June 06, 2021, 1:33 PM EDT
This year my nectarine plant got a lot of flowers which developed into fruits but soon had a lot of sap coming from the fruit. I had asked this question here before and got help that it was infected with plump Curculio. So I removed all fruits and also which were fallen. Now I am starting to see yellowing of leaves and so many shading off as if it’s fall. I stay in Virginia. Pls help. I am yet to spray koilin clay and not sure if that would help.
Henrico County Virginia
Expert Response
Diagnosis: | Abiotic Problem |
Category: | Environmental/Cultural |
Comments: | The leaf symptoms shown in the images indicate that the tree is under stress. I suspect the main problem is drought, but there was no information on the form about whether the tree had been irrigated or not. It would also be helpful to know how long the tree had been planted in the landscape. It is important to complete section 10 of the form when submitting samples of woody plants. Trees will drop leaves in response to drought stress in order to conserve moisture. Discoloration and spotting of leaves can also be caused by nutrient deficiency, so it might be helpful to send a soil sample to the VT Soil Testing Lab to check for nutritional problems. You are correct that the fruit symptoms you described are caused by an insect, the plum curculio. More information about control of this insect can be found in the 2021 Pest Management Guide for Home Grounds and Animals, pp. 3-15 to 3-16. |
We did have a very hot, dry May and some plants in Henrico did show some drought stress.
The tree is 2 years old and I used to water it everyday for 10 mins . But I did change that to only 10 mins in a week using drip irrigation. And also thee yellowing I probably started seeing since that change. I read it in the last post that nectarine doest need that much water and hence I changed the frequency. Should I get it back to everyday? Also how do I send to test the soil to VT soil testing?
Typically we recommend infrequent, deep watering (i.e. 2-3 times a week) rather than daily, shallow watering.
I think the tree was likely shallow rooted due to the frequent, light irrigation and when the natural rains stopped, it was stressed because it was not getting watered deeply enough.
You can call our office to get a soil test kit mailed to you. It has instructions on how to collect the sample and send it to Virginia Tech. The fee is $10, but there are instructions on the kit on how to contact the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District, who will give you a coupon to cover the cost of the test. You can also pick the kit up at any Henrico Public Library
