Knowledgebase
Peach curl #894256
Asked March 12, 2025, 4:53 PM EDT
Macomb County Michigan
Expert Response
Hello,
Yes this sounds like peach leaf curl. Bravo and Ziram are restricted use pesticides, so you would only have access to them if you are licenses.
Peach leaf curl is a fungal intermittent disease that is easy to control with one spray, but timing is important. Apply a material labeled for the disease such as Bordeaux mixture or fixed copper (various products) at 75% or more leaf drop in
the fall or before 1st bud swell (no later) in the spring.
I have tried Googling "Bordeaux mixture" but all that is coming up is wine. Is this a brand name? What is the generic? How can I purchase this while in the state of Michigan? When I tried Googling peach curl remedies before, it mentioned that copper doesn't work if the infection is already in the buds. Since we already know my tree is infected, will this copper still be effective?
Bordeaux mixture is not a brand name, rather it is one of the oldest fungicides still used and it is a mixture of lime and copper sulfate.
The fungus overwinters on the twigs, not the buds and migrates to open buds with a rain event. The advice about the disease in the buds is relevant for timing- you should treat before the buds open. I’m not aware of products available to home growers that don’t contain copper. You can include horticultural oil at a 1% rate to increase the effectiveness of the copper fungicide.
Peach leaf curl usually doesn’t kill trees, though successive years of it can weaken the tree.