Knowledgebase

Peach curl #894256

Asked March 12, 2025, 4:53 PM EDT

I live in a suburban neighborhood outside Detroit. I have a ten year old peach tree that has done very well every year. Last year, it lost all of its leaves and did not grow any fruit. The leaves turned crinkly red and all fell off. I read on your website to use Bravo or Ziram in the spring before buds, but I cannot find any products by those names. I also don’t have an orchard, just one small tree. What are alternative treatments? I am afraid the tree will die this year if it doesn’t grow leaves back.

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.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied March 14, 2025, 8:55 AM EDT

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?

The Question Asker Replied March 14, 2025, 3:08 PM EDT

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.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied March 14, 2025, 4:04 PM EDT

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