[northfifeduckling]

Just to make sure it is not too late in the year - One of my sweet cherries has some disease just affecting the 3ish top leaves of the branches and my feeling is to prune them and burn then. The leaves are crumpling inwards. Any ideas? Fungus or parasite?

[Bert]

I've had a quick look in my fruit tree book and I can't fined anything that has leaves curling inwards    but it was only a quick look.
As for pruning mature trees June to August and young trees spring. Now I've looked that up I know I'm to late to prune my cherry  . I'm new to this fruit tree stuff, it's complicated 

[northfifeduckling]

my thought was that the main indicator of pruning time is if the leaves are (still) on with plums and cherries? You're not supposed to prune them in winter when they have no leaves. Don't tell me I've got it the wrong way round...My Damsons still have the fruit on, too, so I can't cut those yet.
Which book do you have, Bert?

[Bert]

The fruit tree handbook by Ben Pike.
Got it because I found a link to it on here somewhere.( I think you will find it in FRUIT between vegetables and smallholding on the top bar). It is a very good book. It tells you everything you need to know and more. But because I'm a bit    and dyslexic it says to much and now I'm just frightened and confused   

[ellied]

Check with the Orchard Group at Newburgh, half of them are manning the plum market today and next Saturday if you want to just walk up and ask!

But what they told me is stone fruit pruning in August, plums and cherries, not after the weather turns colder as it now has - I infected one of my plums with silverleaf by doing it too late in the year and it's on the way out now despite my efforts to restrict the spread by heavy pruning     That said if it is infected with something nasty, the risk may be as high or higher to leave those branches on to spread another year, but you'd need to ask them and probably buy the stuff you paint on to seal the cut end from getting damp at the very least.  You could still get hit by frost, it's pretty cold overnight here now, but it's a gamble either way..

I found it hard to prune in August as it's counter-intuitive to cut off branches when fruit is on and growing, same as it is to remove growing apples to let the leader grow bigger or to thin out a row of seedlings.  But they keep telling me and I'm doing what they tell me now 

[Simon O]

Yes too late for routine pruning of cherries/plums but if it is diseased better remove it (though some causes of this could be trivial and not a threat to the tree - not much idea from the description as I am no expert in diseases.) Usually wound paints are not advised these days so they say, but I would think if you pruned at this time or later then using wound paint wd be sensible, as you don't want to let silverleaf in. I was also advised that it might be a good idea to use wound paint if you are cutting major branches eg for a tree renovation even over the normal summer pruning period. Yes it is a shame you are losing fruit when you prune plums/cherries, but you have to think of the following years. They don't usually need too much pruning if grown properly.

[northfifeduckling]

I looked at some tops closer yesterday and I think it's a parasite. I found some white threads like cobwebs and some leaves have holes and black parts. Maybe it will just recover over the winter if it's not afungus or germs?
Ellie, I had to miss the market, as Hannah was working at the wedding shortly after...

[HesterF]

Aphids? They sort of suck it dry and can cause the leaves to curl. I would try spraying it with insecticide first if you're not organic. I've got the same Fruit Tree book and went to Brogdale on a fruit tree pruning course and yes, you want to prune cherries when the sap is rising due to silverleaf (rising sap helps to keep the infection out). I've got young trees so I did them late May. No problem to go later but August sounds like a sensible cut off.

Interestingly I was chatting to some Swedish friends about apple tree pruning a couple of weeks ago. They said the latest thinking now was to prune apple trees in summer too. Apparently the main reason they were done in winter was because that's when it's quiet for farmers so they have the time to do them. Clearly harder to time summer pruning of apples around cropping though (although it also makes it easier to spot fruit 'buds' vs. lead 'buds'),

H

[ellied]

I looked at some tops closer yesterday and I think it's a parasite. I found some white threads like cobwebs and some leaves have holes and black parts. Maybe it will just recover over the winter if it's not afungus or germs?
Ellie, I had to miss the market, as Hannah was working at the wedding shortly after...

Third plum market is next Saturday, then 3 weeks of apple markets - all the same folk so any Saturday morning but if you want to talk go later than first thing as there are usually queues at the start!  I pop in about 11 and that seems better, perhaps the buyers are having coffee breaks!

Personally if it looks like a parasite rather than a mould then I'd spray first and leave pruning til next year, see what the leaves look like then..  You could also take a small side branch off below the damage and see if there is a black stripe running under the bark which would indicate the mould spreading through the tree.