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Peach leaf curl -Old folks remedy

 
pollinator
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I love old folks, they are so full of knowledge.  They don't really know why something works, they just know that it does!

As crazy as it may sound, egg shells are actually good at preventing peach leaf curl.  Fill up a netting bag (like the one holding oranges in the shop) with egg shells and hang it in the tree.  Depending on the size of your tree, you could hang 2 or 3 bags. It does not work with cooked shells and you need to renew it once or twice a year!  Actually, spring is a good time to do it, before the new shoots.

If already affected, at the foot of the tree, bury some copper and zinc, maybe old broken copper pipes and broken zinc gutter (before gutters were made out of plastic!).  It works!  After all, burying old bits of iron at the foot of an hydrangea, will turn the flowers from pink to blue.

Good luck!

Edited for spelling mistake
 
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I'll give this a try from now on! Thank you for sharing
 
pollinator
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An experienced organic no-till farmer and presenter at the Sustainable Food & Farming Conference in Grass Valley, CA said she found composting in place under her afflicted peach trees did the trick for leaf curl. I plan to try it here where people say peaches aren't worth trying due to our cool climate.
 
Olga Booker
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Hi, James,

If your tree was infected already, the egg shells alone will help but it might take 3 or 4 years to get better, maybe more depending on the level of infection.  This remedy is for prevention rather than cure.  But good luck anyway.  The copper and zinc will be better for curing -  after all, commercial treatment is copper based!  And if all else fails, you'll have fun when your friends and neighbours ask you: "Why the hell have you got egg shells in your tree for?"

By the way it works for almonds trees too.
 
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I have taken on board the egg shell idea - just happen to have a few egg shells from making scrambled egg - Awaiting comments from the neighbors..
IMG_3406-(Copy).JPG
[Thumbnail for IMG_3406-(Copy).JPG]
bag and egg shells
 
James Landreth
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Olga Booker wrote:Hi, James,

If your tree was infected already, the egg shells alone will help but it might take 3 or 4 years to get better, maybe more depending on the level of infection.  This remedy is for prevention rather than cure.  But good luck anyway.  The copper and zinc will be better for curing -  after all, commercial treatment is copper based!  And if all else fails, you'll have fun when your friends and neighbours ask you: "Why the hell have you got egg shells in your tree for?"

By the way it works for almonds trees too.




Thanks Olga! I meant for future plantings. Because they don't have as long a lifespan as some trees I always plant one or two peach trees a year.  They live about 20 to 30 years here
 
pollinator
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Do I need to bake the egg shells for 7 minutes. Or just is even a bit raw.
 
Olga Booker
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S, Bengi:

Sorry but as mentioned in the first post, it won't work with cooked egg shells, it's got to be raw.

Donald:

That's a great picture! Personally I would put a lot more shells in .  It's OK to add to it every time you eat eggs.  I ended up with about 30 to 50 shells.  Let us know what your neighbours think!
 
Donald MacLeod
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Olga Booker wrote:S, Bengi:

Sorry but as mentioned in the first post, it won't work with cooked egg shells, it's got to be raw.

Donald:

That's a great picture! Personally I would put a lot more shells in .  It's OK to add to it every time you eat eggs.  I ended up with about 30 to 50 shells.  Let us know what your neighbours think!



OLGA,
Will do - can easily add more egg shells - trouble is -it will take a little time as -  we only enjoy "scrambled eggs" now and again.. Maybe if I ask the neighbors nicely - they might save their un-cooked egg shells for me?
Regards
Don
 
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