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Plum leaves suddenly falling off

tinylenkay_C_fy55tinylenkay_C_fy55 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
I have two plum trees approx 6-10 years old, they have both produced a reasonable amount of plums over the last few years. However, they both flowered fine this year and there was plenty of plums growing until a few days ago when over just a day or two they both started to shed copious amoounts of leaves, now both have shed 80%ish of their leaves. The leaves are continuing to fall. I'm not sure what to do, strip the plums to avoid the trees depleting themselves further if few leaves are left to help grow the fruit? The leaves have brown spots but otherwise look OK. If it is a fungal or bacterial infection can the trees recover or will it simply return next year. I have attached photos of the leaves and what one if the trees looks like currently, any help or advice appreciated,cheers

Posts

  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Sorry for the delay in answering this, @tinylenkay_C_fy55.  I'm not sure I completely know the answer but I'll give it a go...

    I'm pretty sure the leaf spots are signs of a fungal (or possibly bacterial) attack.  I've never seen that result in such wholesale leaf loss, but the Internet suggests it's possible; other reasons might be insufficient water (or too much...).  You could try removing a circle of vegetation under your tree, making sure it's really well watered in dry spells (I give my fruit trees 20 litres each, once a week, when it's dry), and mulching the area, leaving the trunk free of mulch.  

    Clear up the fallen leaves and burn them so any infection doesn't carry on next year.

    I'd certainly thin the fruit a good deal so as not to stress the tree further.

    Hope your trees recover!
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Not something I have experience of, but in addition to what @Liriodendron says, especially about the foliage,  I wonder if the fruit has formed quickly and earlier than usual due to the odd weather. The June drop maybe hasn't happened due to that, and instead of shedding fruits that won't be properly matured, the tree is shedding foliage instead to cope with it. 
    Not sure if that's a possibility though. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • tinylenkay_C_fy55tinylenkay_C_fy55 Posts: 2
    Thank you both for your suggestions, I'll give them a go and keep my fingers crossed, cheers
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