[Kghareeb]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and would like to find out if anyone knows what is the problem with my almond trees? The leaves are rolling up and wrinkly, I also need a solution.
The flowers have just dried up and the trees are at the first stage of fruiting, they are young trees (third year) and is the first fruiting year.

[Steveharford]

I've a feeling they suffer from peach leaf curl. I would Google it but Rugby beckons.

[Kghareeb]

The almond trees are mixed up with peach, plum, and appricot trees. About 20 trees of each fruit.

[Yorkie]

Here's the RHS page for peach leaf curl
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=232

But have you tried unrolling the curled up bits to see whether there's any pest hidden inside the leaves?

[Kghareeb]

No I have not, I will tomorrow if not raining. And if I find something I will try to photograph it and upload.

[Snoop]

That's very odd-looking damage.

This is an almond-growing area and I've never seen anything like that here. Farmers tend not to spray their almond trees here and you do see peach trees growing alongside them occasionally, with no problems that I've ever spotted. Certainly nothing like that.

[Kristen]

... if not raining ...

If it is Peach Leaf Curl its that rain, and thus humidity, which is the problem.  You'll need some sort of "roof" to keep the rain off the plant (itself, not the roots!) in winter

[Kristen]

Just read the RHS link and it says the rain protection "should be erected after leaf fall in November and kept in place until mid-May". I had no idea it was as long as that ...

[Kghareeb]

Kristen, Thanks for your advice, I have around 100 Almond trees, more than 100 Peach trees, more than 100 apricot and more than 100 plum. so covering them is not possible. I was reading that copper spray in November after leaf fall and again in early February might solve the situation, what do you think?
Its been poring today so I haven't had a chance to investigate further, I'll make sure its not a parasite or insects before I report back.
I also have a problem with one of my almond trees spewing gum, I think it's probably borer larva. I have attached a photo, I appreciate anyone with advise on how to solve this problem.

[Kghareeb]

I had a post last week on this subject and couldn't conclusively reach a plan of action. I have an orchard of around 1200 trees of different types, including Plums, Peaches, Apricots, Almonds, Cherries and Pomegranates. The trees are between one to three seasons old. I dont live on the orchard but visit very regularly or even daily (weather permitting).
This year I have noticed a problem with a small number of my Almond and Peach trees, The leaves are deformed and wrinkled. Last week some of you had a suspicion that it might be a fungal related problem known as Peach leaf curl, based on the information I got from Google, this condition causes the leaves to elongate and almost double in size, that the leaves have red wart like spots and that any of the leaves can be effected.
I have taken some photos of the problem as attached, the leaves have not elongated or expanded, the leaves have wrinkled-up and contracted, they don't have any signs of red wart like spots, the problem is only on the small leaves at the tip of the branch.
I investigated and opened some of the leave to see if it could be an insect, I found a small green flea like insect that was inside some, but not all and the numbers of the small insects was relevantly small, 0,1,2 or 3 in one leaf. I have attached photos of the leaves, the insect and one photo of a normal sized leaf together with an effected leaf.
I would greatly appreciate any help I can get to remedy this problem.

[Yorkie]

Hi Kghareeb

Just to let you know I've merged your threads together so people can see all the information in one place 

[Kghareeb]

Thank you Moderator

[Goosegirl]

I've just had a look through my RHS book of pests and diseases and the nearest I can find to it is a leaf aphid which affects peach and some other fruiting trees. It mentions two types; one of which is green like yours but the peach leaf aphid is black. Unfortunately, almonds are not specifically mentioned. This is not a lot of help I know, but perhaps a spray in the meantime would be of some help?

[New shoot]

Hi Kghareeb.  Your orchard sounds like a little piece of paradise with all those trees, but as you talk about growing pomegranates, I assume you are outside the UK?

It maybe the insects you have found are not ones we see here, so that is why we are struggling to identify them for you    Crinkled leaves on trees over here are often because aphids attack the young growth and deform it, but aphids are slow moving fat squidgy things and not flea like, although the pictures you have posted do look like the greenfly aphids we get here.

[Kghareeb]

I've just had a look through my RHS book of pests and diseases and the nearest I can find to it is a leaf aphid which affects peach and some other fruiting trees. It mentions two types; one of which is green like yours but the peach leaf aphid is black. Unfortunately, almonds are not specifically mentioned. This is not a lot of help I know, but perhaps a spray in the meantime would be of some help?

Goosegirl, Thank you for your advise. do you believe it is pest related? I also dont believe the problem is fungal, the trees have fruit and I'm reluctant to spray, can you advise on which type of spry you recommend for a tree with fruit. Thanks again.