Knowledgebase

Apple and plum tree care #845028

Asked August 09, 2023, 10:03 PM EDT

Hello- I have 2 apple trees and one plum tree that have been in the ground a little over a year. All three have something going on with their leaves, especially the plum tree. If I take a coule of photos, can someone there give me any advice ? All 3 trees are about 11 feet tall, with a trunk about 21/2 inches. Thank-you

Wayne County Michigan

Expert Response

Please upload your photos, trying to include the affected area plus shots of the overall tree and planting area.  Our next available tree fruit expert can take a look. 
This is email two with the remaining 5 photos.  

On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 10:24 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 11, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT
This is email two with the remaining 5 photos.  

On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 10:24 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 11, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT
Hello. 
See my attached photos.  Gmail would only allow five at a time to be sent, so two emails.  

On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 10:24 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 11, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT
Hello. 
See my attached photos.  Gmail would only allow five at a time to be sent, so two emails.  

On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 10:24 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 11, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT

Sorry for the delay. My laptop is having problems with the heic file extension used by your photos. Would you be able to upload these as jpg? If not, I have a work-around, but it's a bit tedious for this many images.

Thank you for contacting Ask Extension! Replied August 17, 2023, 6:44 PM EDT
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On Thu, Aug 17, 2023 at 6:44 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 18, 2023, 1:41 PM EDT
I just sent you 3 pictures, hopefully you can access them. ( I had a friend prepare all of the earlier ones , and he obviously made it more complicated than necessary.
I planted 2 apple trees, one peach, one pear and one plum last year.
The plum tree is the most stressed, so I will concentrate on that one first.
Thanks for any help .
Toni Jennings
<personal data hidden>

On Thu, Aug 17, 2023 at 6:44 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 18, 2023, 1:47 PM EDT

Could you tell me what herbicides have been used by you or your neighbors earlier this year? That would include weed and feed lawn products, Roundup, or any other products used to control the growth of weeds. Herbicide injury is one possibility to explain the cupping and burning of the leaves. There are also insects and diseases that could produce similar symptoms, but the sudden onset across multiple species makes me want to rule out herbicides first. 

Besides the possibility of drift from spraying, several of the herbicides commonly used can volatilize under the right conditions, meaning that they can transfer off of the target plants and disperse into the air in the hours or days after application, causing off-target damage to trees and other plants.

Thank you for contacting Ask Extension! Replied August 18, 2023, 4:42 PM EDT
I don't use any chemicals-and I don't think my neighbors do either. It is definitely insects or lack of some nutrients.  I'm no expert. I was hoping you could tell from the pictures. I have a peach tree 40 feet from the plum, and it is fine-it looks very healthy-but it produced no fruit. I don't know if that is normal with peach trees. I have 2 apple trees in the back yard and one of them is pretty healthy-the other one is similar to the plum tree-but not as extreme. 
Maybe I should reach out to the place where I purchased them-but I thought I would check with you guys first.

Toni

On Fri, Aug 18, 2023, 4:42 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 18, 2023, 10:12 PM EDT

I do recommend you reach out to the nursery you purchased from. It is often helpful to have conversations with a few people to help zero in on the problem. MSU also has a Plant and Pest Diagnostics Lab that can perform a complete plant health analysis for a nominal fee. Information is here: https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/

There are a number of things going on with your trees, with the images suggesting both insect damage and leaf scorch, and possibly disease. However, most young trees can tolerate quite a bit of insect and disease pressure when they are healthy. I would guess that your trees are still under stress from planting, which makes them more vulnerable to other problems. If you would like to continue our conversation, I would ask you to describe to me in detail how you planted and cared for the tree, from the time of purchase up until the present. From that, we may uncover the underlying stressor.

Thank you for contacting Ask Extension! Replied August 20, 2023, 6:18 PM EDT

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