I am about to become a resident of Qualicum Beach after years of living and gardening in Alberta. I now feel like a rookie gardener. I was thrilled to find this forum. On a recent visit to the island I spoke to a friend who was trying to grow a peach tree but was experiencing peach leaf curl. The nurseryman told him that he could only grow peaches under an overhang of a house because if they are grown without cover they will always get the curl. Is this true? My other question is will Bing cherries grow in the Qualicum Beach area? As you can tell my first purchase upon moving will be fruit trees. Thank you in advance for any help.
Hi Axon54: In moist climates most all untreated Peaches and Nectarines will develop a leaf curl. Even for us in a warm climate we can still see evidence of leaf curl on most Peaches when we do not use a fungicide on our trees either at pre-bloom or applied at the start of bloom. Here, if we miss an application of let's say a lime sulphur spray right at the start of bloom, we will see some of the first leaves come out disfigured and then after a few more sets of leaves come out those leaves will be fine providing we have warmer weather with little or no moisture from fog, drizzle or from rainfall. There is some truth to what the nurseryman said to your friend as far as using an overhang to somewhat prevent a leaf curl outbreak. Still, I would apply at least one fungicide spray just prior to bloom or when the first few flowers are starting to open instead. Should you use a fungicide spray such as lime sulphur I would suggest you try to get 48 hours of no additional moisture for your spray to be a deterrent for the leaf curl. Below is a URL that you may want to read. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/peachleafcurl.htm Yes, you should be able to grow a Bing Cherry where you are planning to move to. Jim
