organic remedy for leaf curl?

I have a lovely golden queen peach that has always had a little bit of leaf curl, but this year it is much worse. It has set a lovely drop of fruit and I don't want to lose them. Shall I simply ignore the leaf curl or should I spray? and if I spray, what should it be with? I generally don't use synthetic pesticides and have an aversion to anything by Monsanto :) so your advice gratefully received, thanks!

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  • Hi there. Dolomite around your trees in May will greatly reduce leaf curl. Some people hang seaweed amongst the branches to prevent leaf curl. K
  • You can try an organic method of removing the worst leaves before they reinfect others. Of course if the tree is really bad that might mean all the leaves! I spray with copper sulphate when the buds are just beginning to open but that doesn't completely get rid of the leaf curl. I read in the latest NZ Gardener Organic section that you can make up a nettle tea by soaking the nettle leaves from your garden in water for a few weeks then using that as a foliar spray on the leaves to help it combat the leaf curl. Haven't tried it myself yet, and my tree is also beginning to struggle! So far we didn't lose the fruit thanks to a late frost.
  • Thanks Debbie, I thought as much. I guess I can do it next year, presuming that once it has the disease it doesn't hang around for life once I start spraying...if that makes sense!
  • I had thought that the spraying for Leaf Curl could only be preventative- ie before the tree actually grows leaves (over the winter) and that once the foliage was in place, there was nothing you could do about it. Correct me someone please if I am wrong???

    I think the spray to use is Copper -- which is also used as an organic spray if deemed necessary.
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