Peach leaf curl is a common disease of peaches in Iowa. The disease is easy to recognize. When infected leaves emerge from buds they appear thickened, puckered, and pinkish-red in color.
Peach leaf curl can be controlled with a single fungicide spray, but timing is critical. The fungicide must be sprayed in the dormant season, either after the leaves drop in the fall or before the buds begin to swell in the spring. With the recent warm weather, bud swell will be occurring soon. Some of the fungicides registered for control of leaf curl include liquid lime-sulfur, chlorothalonil, Bordeaux mixture, and other copper products.
The fungus that causes peach leaf curl, Taphrina deformans, overwinters in bark crevices and bud scales of trees. Spring rains wash the spores of the fungus onto the newly emerging leaf tissue. Cool and wet conditions provide the best conditions for the fungus.
If leaves become infected, they cannot be treated that year. Infected leaves will eventually turn a gray color and fall from the tree. Early leaf drop year after year can lead to a reduced fruit crop and predispose the tree to other stresses such as winter injury.
This article originally appeared in the April 13, 2001 issue, p. 35.
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Yard and Garden, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on April 13, 2001. The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.