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xcaret_gw

Italian Prune tree leaves are curling

xcaret
16 years ago

Last year I brought an Italian Prune tree here to Calgary .I bought it in Creston from a nursery .It did well over winter ,I was told to heap loads of compost around the root so it wouldnt thaw out in our chinooks . This spring it had some blosoms and now 6 little prunes are forming .(same for my Stella cherry tree I bought at the same time )

I sprayed it with savers soap when I noticed some things on the leaves ,now the new leaves are curling and I'm wondering if its the savers or something else .I see ants on the leaves once in a while ,but someone said ants dont eat leaves ??? .I'm keeping an eye on a new shoot that didn't get sprayed ,to see if it curls .I once saw a ladybug on the leaves ,but thought that was good ,I'm not sure if it is or not .

Neil

Comments (2)

  • xcaret
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think I will answer my post .
    The safers spray didn't seem to do much so I blasted it with malatian .That did the trick ..Now I'm getting new growth and nice leaves ..I don't know why people are not using this stuff more often.

  • bonniepunch
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Do you mean that you sprayed it with Malathion?

    I don't know why people are not using this stuff more often.

    Because it's dangerous. Malathion is a cholinesterease inhibitor. That means it is a neurotoxin (in high concentrations it can cause blurred vision, excess salivation, muscle spasms, and possibly death). It does have a low level of toxicity to birds and mamals when used according to instructions and human deaths are rare but it does have several points of concern.

    The EPA in the US is considering a change to the registration status because some recent studies are showing it to be a possible low level carcinogen.

    Malathion, if it enters a waterway or other water source, can react during the chlorination process to form Malaoxon - a chemical dozens of times more toxic than Malathion. Malathion can also break down into this chemical over time through exposure to air.

    It is highly toxic to honeybees. The honeybee populations in North America are declining very rapidly in part because of overuse of pesticides. We desperately need honeybees - your fruit tree, the grains used to make your bread and feed the cows that you eat require honeybees for pollination. Beans, corn, berries... basically almost everything you eat depends on honeybees.

    The city of Winnipeg, under orders from the province of Manitoba, is the only city in Canada to have a malathion spray program to combat mosquitoes. It is highly controversial and numerous court challenges have been filed to get them to cease spraying.

    Cosmetic Malathion use has been banned in the entire province of Quebec as well as many other municipalities across Canada.

    About your tree - Be careful with adding soil or compost over the roots or against the trunk. By covering the roots you risk depriving the tree of the oxygen it needs to grow, and by placing it against the trunk, you risk fungal infections, insects and rodents damaging the trunk.

    Ants will not usually harm your tree. They're probably looking for aphids to farm. Some ants will eat leaves or decaying wood, but unless your tree is dying that won't be a problem.

    How did you plant this tree? Did you dig a big hole and amend the soil you removed with fresh soil and compost or did you backfill with only the soil you removed? The proper way to plant a new tree is to backfill with only the soil you have removed. Many nurseries tell you to amend it first, but that is not a healthy practice. By doing this you encourage the roots to remain in the amended soil instead of spreading out properly. You can add a small amount of soil or mulch to the surface, but no more than an inch or so (or you run into the problem of suffocating the tree roots).

    Curling leaves over the whole tree would most likely be a sign of a fungal infestation or inadequate water uptake. It was almost certainly a coincidence that the tree improved at the same time you sprayed it. Malathion is a pesticide and does nothing against fungal infections. Most likely it needed to grow some new roots to get more moisture or it was fighting a fungus of some sort.

    Before you spray, it is much better to identify the problem. That way you can avid any unnecessary applications of possibly dangerous chemicals. The university of Calgary's agricultural department should be able to tell you where to go to get information on identifying local pests and other problems.

    BP

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