How to Identify Peach Tree Disease

Peach trees, of the Rosaceae family are native to Asia and are grown worldwide today. Peach trees bear the stone fruits, peaches or nectarines (smooth peaches) known for their delicious light yellow flesh and soft skin. These trees are susceptible to a disease called leaf curl, which can impact the growth of the fruit crop due to the thinning out of leaves. The fruit itself is highly susceptible to a disease called brown rot. There are several signs you can look for to see if your peach tree may be afflicted by one of these diseases.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Look at the leaves of your peach tree. Do they look healthy and relatively straight? Or are they curling backward? Leaf curl is caused by a fungus called Taphrina deformans and affects peach trees all over the world.

2. Feel the texture of the leaves you suspect to be diseased. Healthy leaves will be thin, but strong and shiny, whereas diseased leaves may be thick, but flimsy.

3. Observe the color of the leaves. Healthy leaves are a rich spring-green, but diseased leaves are often yellowish and will then turn dark brown before falling off.

4. Step back from the tree and look it over as a whole. Does it look thin? Have several of the leaves fallen off during the spring?

5. Check branches for discoloration, as well. Branches can grow darker than normal and appear enlarged when diseased.

6. Check the fruit itself for any discoloration. Fruit that is redder than normal may have the disease, and if there are several brown soft spots all over the new fruit, then it may have brown rot.

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