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Poorly Pear Tree

We planted two trained fruit trees in February, a double cordon conference pear and an espalier howgate wonder apple. They're in clay soil that we've been improving for a year and a half, and east facing so get plenty of sun. We've given them a good water when the weather has been dry, and they've not been waterlogged.

As the pear leaves have opened, brown patches have developed at the edges of the leaves. I've attached some photos- there are small circular organgey spots,and browing at the edge of some leaves. A few leaves have gone totally brown. Is this a pest, a disease, or a cultural problem like a mineral deficiency?

 

Thanks

 

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Posts

  • flowering roseflowering rose Posts: 1,632

    hard to say with out close view but it might be leaf curl or you may have put too rich a compost or rust virus at  a quess.

  • bookmonsterbookmonster Posts: 399

    Thanks! The pictures are pretty big, if you click on them they should open up. All we've used this year in terms of compost is soil improver (composted garden waste) with a handful of chicken manure, with a fairly thin mulch of all purpose (peat free) compost. It doesn't look like the pictures I've found of rust - what's leaf curl?

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Looks a bit like another case of Pear blister mite - see this thread:

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/problem-identifying-and-treating-pear-disease/306221.html

     

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • bookmonsterbookmonster Posts: 399

    Thanks, first opportunity I get I'll remove affected leaves, and give it a dose of seaweed extract.

  • I think the amount of rain we've had may leave lots of plants a bit hungrier this year.

    Guessing most outdoor cropping plants will need a bit of extra nosh. Indoor and potted plants rely on top ups. Plants do give us hints by how they leaf up.

    give me nitrogen: pale green all over 

    give me potassium: yellow edges and tip and leaf curls under

    give me phosphorus: top leaves start to brown and lower leaves yellow

    The micro nosh is trickier : calcium loss makes baby leaves hook, sulphur loss makes the veins yellow and magnesium loss causes yellow tips and edges - but the bit near the petiole (stalk end) stays green.

    I like your thinking bookmonster- Seaweed extract is a fantastic fixer Of leaf probs.

     

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