Common crops affected
- Peach
- Nectarine
- Almond
- Stone fruit
What is it?
Taphrina fungi infect young, expanding leaves (and sometimes shoots and fruit) in cool, wet spring conditions, causing the characteristic puckered, blistered, discoloured distortion.
How to identify it
- Thickened, puckered, blistered areas on expanding leaves.
- Red, pink or purple discoloration turning grey/white as spores form.
- Curled, distorted leaves that later yellow and drop.
- Reduced canopy, weakened trees and lower fruit set after severe years.
Life cycle & spread
Spores overwinter on bark and bud scales and infect young leaves at bud-swell/emergence in cool, wet weather; there is essentially one main infection period per season, which is why dormant/early timing is key.
Conditions that favour it
Cool, wet spring weather during bud-swell and leaf emergence; carry-over spores on bark and buds.
Damage and how it spreads
Loss of functional leaf area weakens the tree, reduces fruit set and size, and can cause defoliation in severe years.
Monitoring & scouting
Calendar/phenology-based: the critical action window is dormancy to bud-swell, before leaves emerge — not after symptoms appear.
How to control it
- Apply preventively in the dormant/bud-swell window;
- remove and destroy infected leaves;
- the disease can't be reversed on infected tissue, so prevention is everything.
Recommended Vegalab solution: Spore Control
Spore Control — natural broad-spectrum fungicide (thymol) applied preventively in the dormant to bud-swell window, before leaves emerge, with thorough coverage of bark and buds.
| Role | Product | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Primary control | Spore Control |
Preventing it next season
Dormant/bud-swell preventive application, sanitation of fallen infected leaves, and good tree vigour.
Claims and product availability vary by jurisdiction. Always read and follow the product label.