Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] Leaves curling and folding

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Jim Fruth <jfruth@uslink.net>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Leaves curling and folding
  • Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:12:23 -0500

Sherwindu,
When leaves curl up, you can be pretty sure that potassium or magnesium
(or both) has become unavailable to the tree or has leached out of the soil.
You said that you think they may be getting too much water and you are
probably right. If a potassium deficiency becomes severe, the margins of
older leaves will dry out as the tree transports this mobile element to
younger, growing leaves. If it is a severe magnesium deficiency, older
leaves will start dropping off the tree.
--

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN
www.bberryfarm.com
Jams, Jellies and Syrups
(218)568-8483 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My cell]


I just took a bunch of sample leaves up to my nearby Chicago Botanical
Garden
plant information people and they had no solid answers as to what was
causing
the leaves on my fruit trees (mostly apple) to curl up. There was no sign
of
mites, and
it's past their season any ways. Some leaves at the tips of new growth
shrivel
down
towards the underside of the leaf. This is seen more on the young trees, in
pots. I
try to keep them from drying out, but maybe they are getting too much water.
Other
trees in the ground have a tendency to fold up. I try to maintain an even
watering on
these trees, but it could be a case of too much or too little watering.
There
is no sign
of insects or fungus. We have sprayed three times this year, the last being
about 3 weeks ago. The fruit looks fine, and the leaves look good except
for
some hail damage from a few weeks ago. There can be two separate problems
here,
but so far, I don't think the trees are in any great danger. The plant
information guy told me
to stick a pencil in the nearby soil and if it comes up dry, add water,
otherwise leave
it alone. Any thoughts on this?





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page