Plum trees do not get peach leaf curl in the usual sense. The fungus that causes it, Taphrina deformans, attacks peaches and nectarines. Plums have their own close relative of the disease, called plum pockets or bladder plum. It is caused by another Taphrina fungus and can curl plum leaves in much the same way. If your plum’s leaves are puckered and its young fruit look like hollow, swollen bladders, that is almost certainly plum pockets.

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The short answer: no. The UC Statewide IPM Program says peach leaf curl typically affects only peach and nectarine trees. Plums get plum pockets, caused by the related fungus Taphrina communis (University of Illinois Extension). It swells young plums up to ten times their normal size, leaves them hollow and spongy, and can curl leaves and shoots. American and wild plums are most affected. European and Japanese plums are generally resistant (WSU Hortsense). Both diseases are controlled by a single dormant spray before buds swell.

Peach leaf curl vs plum pockets

	Peach leaf curl	Plum pockets
Fungus	Taphrina deformans	Taphrina communis (and T. pruni on European blackthorn and plums)
Main host	Peach, nectarine	American and wild plums
Main symptom	Thick, puckered, red leaves in spring	Swollen, hollow, spongy fruit
Leaves affected?	Yes, the main symptom	Sometimes thickened and curled
Control	One dormant spray	One dormant spray, plus removing infected fruit

What peach leaf curl is

The UC IPM Program describes peach leaf curl as one of the most common disease problems for backyard peach growers. It affects the leaves, blossoms, fruit and shoots of peaches, ornamental flowering peaches and nectarines. Infected leaves thicken, pucker and turn red in spring, then die and fall. Untreated for several years, it can cause the tree to decline. See our peach leaf curl guide for more.

What plum pockets looks like

The University of Minnesota Extension describes plum pockets as an unusual disease that makes unripe plums grow abnormally large within a month or two of bloom. The infection starts as a small blister that soon covers the whole fruit. The fruit may grow to ten times its normal size, become spongy and hollow inside, and later grow a velvety gray coat of spores before drying out and turning black.

Penn State Extension adds that new shoots and leaves are often infected too. Shoots thicken and twist, and leaves thicken and curl like leaf curl on a peach. This is the source of most “peach leaf curl on my plum” reports. WSU Hortsense notes that affected leaves and shoots may be reddish to yellow.

Which plums get it

WSU Hortsense lists European plum (Prunus domestica) and Japanese or oriental plum (P. salicina) as reported resistant, while American plums, cultivated and wild, are susceptible. Minnesota Extension says most dessert plums grown there are unlikely to be affected. If you grow an American-type plum or have wild plums nearby, expect it in cool, wet springs.

Other causes of curled plum leaves

If the fruit looks normal but the leaves are curled, check for these first:

Aphids. Look under the curled leaves for clusters of small insects and sticky honeydew.
Herbicide drift. Twisted, strappy new leaves after nearby spraying.
Drought or heat. Leaves cup and roll in dry spells but are not thickened or red.

Treatment and prevention

Both diseases infect as buds open in cool, wet weather, so treatment is about timing. The University of Illinois Extension recommends a single dormant fungicide spray to buds and twigs, in fall after leaf drop or in spring before buds swell. It notes that sprays after bud break do not work. Nebraska Extension adds that one application of chlorothalonil usually gives control in most years, and that lime sulfur, Bordeaux mixture or copper fungicides also work.

For plum pockets:

Pick off swollen fruit before it turns gray with spores, and bury or bin it (Minnesota Extension).
Rake up and destroy fallen infected fruit, and prune out twisted shoots (WSU Hortsense).
Remove infected wild plums nearby if practical.
If the disease has ruined most of the crop several years running, add the dormant spray.

Minnesota Extension notes that plum pockets does not harm the health of the tree, so on an ornamental or lightly fruiting plum you can often just remove infected fruit. Always check that the product label lists plums, and follow its pre-harvest interval.

When to spray, by month

In most of the US, the dormant spray window runs from leaf drop in late fall to just before bud swell in late winter or early spring. Many gardeners spray once in late fall, after the leaves have dropped, so they are not caught out by an early spring. Spray on a dry, calm day above freezing, and cover every twig and bud. A missed side of the tree is a common reason the disease returns.

Growing peaches and plums together

The two diseases are caused by different fungi, so a plum will not catch leaf curl from a neighboring peach, or the other way round. One dormant-season copper or lime sulfur spray in a mixed home orchard protects against both. See what to spray on peach trees and when for the rest of the stone-fruit spray calendar.

Sources

Peach Leaf Curl (Pest Notes), UC Statewide IPM Program
Peach Leaf Curl and Plum Pocket, University of Illinois Extension
Plum pockets, University of Minnesota Extension
Plum, Prune (Fresh): Plum pockets, Washington State University Hortsense
Stone Fruit Disease – Plum Pockets, Penn State Extension
Controlling Peach Leaf Curl & Plum Pockets, Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Top photo: Jowaninpensans, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Can Plum Trees Get Peach Leaf Curl?