pear trees

[buggybelle]

my little pear tree has new leaves but some are starting to curl under & the underside has black stuff on them .any idea what this is & how to cure it please

[Lonnie]

One of the most comon Pear tree blights is 'Leaf Midge', they generally attack the young leafs, but because of the leaf curl, its hard to get at them with a spray, the best thing you cand, is to pick off and burn the affected leafs.

Sorry I can't come up with anything else, perhaps someone else can, alternatively, take, in a bag, a couple of leafs to a Garden Centre, their experts will be happy to help.

[Thunderbird+]

Going by what you discribe, curld leaves and black stuff, suggests to me that it could be aphids. Aphids can be green, grey, pink, or black. Heavy infestations can cause leaf curling and stunted growth. sugary excreations produced by the aphids make the foliage and fruit sticky which can alow a black sooty mould to grow on the leaves later.

By mid late june or july, the winged aphids migrate to other hosts, which are often wild plants.

The best form of defence is to sprey with a tar oil wash in december or january to kill over-wintering eggs. It still may not be too late to spray now with a systemic insecticide, following the manufacturers instructions. Good Luck.

[allotment10]

kike thunderbird says, sounds like blackfly, we get it on runnerbeans,broad beans,etc, i use half washingup liquid & half water, spraying the leaves & stalks then repeat every couple of days, or when needed,(i don't like using insecticides 'cause of the ladybirds) but there are plenty of sprays that you can buy, hope this helps,

www.gardenaction.co.uk/techniques/pests/aphids/htm.

[allotment10]

sorry, that link doesn't seem to be working at the moment, if you google blackfly/aphids there are plenty of links to help you.