Victoria isn't at all well :-(

sparrer

I have a Victoria plum, planted in a huge tub in 2010, which last year thrived and gave masses of fruit. I've not moved it or treated it any differently but the leaves have holes in them and are turning yellow. The ones I've touched have just fallen off into my hand. have searched but can't find anything about pests, or what I can do to stop it getting any worse. Any ideas please? Tia

blossomhill_2

Plums do get a fungal disease called silver leaf ut this doesnt sound like it

They tend to have alternate fruiting years so it may just be recovering from heavy fruiting last year

Holes in leaves suggests a pest ...

Or could be that the soil is "spent" and would benefit form some being scraped off and replaced with rich new stuff

sparrer

Thanks blossomhill. The leaves aren't turning silver, but lime/yellow. Took some leaves to the garden centre where I bought the plum, they identified it as shot hole disease, which can be corrected by a) moving the plant to a different position but in my case it's in a pot and just starting to fruit so not appropriate, and b) feeding with osmocote now and a bi-annual feed of sulphate of potash, late March and October.

The good news is it's not life threatening and won't affect the fruits. Hope this helps someone else.

blossomhill_2

sparrer wrote: »

they identified it as shot hole disease, which can be corrected by a) moving the plant to a different position but in my case it's in a pot and just starting to fruit so not appropriate, and b) feeding with osmocote now and a bi-annual feed of sulphate of potash, late March and October.

Well I've learnt something ! At least if mine get it I will know what to do now LOL
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

sammyroser

That's a good idea! My plum tree has not been very happy this year and the leaves are curling like crazy, going an orangy/purple colour and I never thought to take it to the garden centre.

Glad to hear your plum should make a full recovery.

diluvsdiscounts

I had a conversation with an elderly gentleman last Thursday about what I had growing in my garden.When I said two plum trees he asked if I had any plums on them.I laughed and said "of course,loads".
When I came home I had a look for the said fruit and do you know there wasn't a plum in sight and yet they were both full of blossom.
I then thought about his comment and wondered if plum trees maybe suffered from the late frost and cold spell we had.
He comes into the shop I work in every Thursday so I will be asking him for a theory and I'll come back here and post his response.
Last year both trees had a bumper crop and they are different varieties so maybe it's like blossomhill said and they are just having a rest.

Blackjack_Davy

Have you fed it at all since you planted it? Plums are gross feeders and love high nitrogen feeds, the fertiliser in the compost will only last a year or two at best before it's all used up. If plums are undernourished they quickly fall prey to fungal diseases they can usually shrug off if in better health.

sparrer

Blackjack I feed it with a general granular fertiliser as I do with all my plants two or three times a year, but now I have the appropriate ones hopefully they'll do the trick.

kazschow

I have a number of large plum trees here, they flower heavily, start to develop fruit, then the fruit shrivels up to little black crescent moons, we've only ever had at most half a dozen edible fruits from these trees, can anone tell me what it might be?

tim_n

too much or too little water. This year my cherry plum did exactly the same - first no water, then suddenly far too much, then none again