Peach Leaf Curl
New spring leaves come out thickened, puckered and curled, with red or purple blistered areas that later turn greyish white and powdery. Nothing else on a peach does this: the leaf is deformed and rubbery rather than spotted, and it appears about two weeks after bud break then drops.
Disease checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of it
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Dormant copper spray after leaf fall
Apply a copper fungicide or Bordeaux mixture in late fall once the leaves are down, covering every twig, per the label.
copper fungicide concentrateTry this first2Second dormant spray in a wet winter
In a very wet winter add a second application in late winter as flower buds swell but before green leaf tips show.
3Rake and remove fallen curled leaves
Clear the dropped leaves so fewer spores sit on the bark over winter.
leaf rake heavy duty4Feed and water the tree after an attack
A tree that loses its first flush needs steady water and a light feeding to push healthy replacement leaves, and thinning some fruit reduces the strain.
fruit tree fertilizer spikes5Plant a resistant variety
Frost, Q-1-8 and Indian Free peaches carry useful leaf curl resistance.
leaf curl resistant peach tree
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Which plants get peach leaf curl
Every plant we cover that gets peach leaf curl, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same disease can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Rosaceae, with 4 of the 5 affected plants.
- Rosaceae4 plants
When to treat
There is no in-season fix: the only effective treatment is a dormant fungicide after leaf drop in late fall or before buds swell in late winter, and spraying once the curled leaves appear will not help and can burn the foliage.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for peach leaf curl and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets peach leaf curl, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.