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| Hello gardenwebbers, My cherry trees have what I thought was a disease but now I believe it is sunburn. The leaves on the western quarter of each tree, plus the west faces of the apple espalier and a new-this-year rose bed, have brown and crispy leaves and the apples have brown tough skin on the west face. This year started with two multi-night frosts (rare in my part of California) followed by temps over 100 in May ( also extremely odd- usually warm but not like that!) and continued hot- I think my car registered 93 every day for a solid 8 weeks July-September. Through our drought I watered 5 gallons weekly, with filtered but not softened shower warm-up water and fed lightly with fruit tree fertilizer. The cherries fell prey first and I initially thought a fungus- I usually spray copper in winter but around here, advice tends to be based on rain- and as we are in a severe drought the rain has been sporadic and extremely sparse, so I only sprayed once last winter. I am asking if I am way off here, and if it is sun damage, has anyone got a Best, Pea |
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| pea: It does sound like sun/heat/drought damage. Five gal a week is very skimpy for any kind of fruit tree. If that's all you have so be it. More water would help as would some afternoon shade. 40-50% shade cloth in afternoon would help even if you could water more. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 21, 14 at 12:18
| its hard to give you an ID of the problem.. on words alone... and then offer suggestions ... sure.. it SOUNDS like sunburn ... or lack of proper watering ... how about a pic ken |
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- Posted by princesspea sunset14 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 13:01
| Here is a cherry leaf, the damage is similar on other plants- all on the same side of the plant. I slightly mis-spoke in my initial post, I water 1- 2 times a week with 5 gallons of shower water, dependent on my kids shower schedule. The tomatoes and veg are more needy. I know it's not much, but it's pretty important to conserve- some areas are fining people who go over, and it doesn't look like rain this winter either. All my trees/shrubs are mulched with about 4" - I use compost in summer, gingko leaves in winter. I think shade cloth is a great plan, the prevailing wind is on the same direction as the burn, so any hints or tips about supporting shade cloth would be appreciated. Pea |
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| Pea: Sure looks like sunburn. Shade cloth will help and is probably worth the cost. But it would be helpful to first consider the trees water requirements so I've included a link from CA for various size trees and weather conditions. I don't know how big your trees are but 10 gal per week doesn't go far. That would be about right for a 2 yr old fruit tree shading an area about 2ft by 5ft during midday. If you can't get half way to the trees needs via watering you might be wasting money, and resources, on shade cloth. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit tree water use in CA
This post was edited by fruitnut on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 13:26
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- Posted by princesspea sunset14 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 14:46
| Great link for watering guidelines, thank you so much! I am always unsure how much I need to water. The city tells us to water our newly planted, 8' tall steer trees 15 gallons a week so I had been going off that guideline, my fruits have been in the ground two years but were 3' and branched at time of planting and are now approaching 5' . (The peach trees are 8' but have a little afternoon shade) I will calculate where I can take and give the water, it's silly to toss the investment of trees, it's not like I have a giant orchard. Pea |
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- Posted by princesspea sunset14 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 14:47
| Sorry, I meant street trees, not steer trees!! Though that would be interesting... |
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| You don't need 100% of the recommendation particularly after harvest. After harvest most trees will do fine at 50%. I try to water at 50-75% to increase fruit sweetness and flavor. But If my trees leaves were burning like your picture I'd up water some and possibly shade some in afternoon. |
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