This spring as our fruit trees were blossoming and leafing out, I noticed that many of the leaves on our peach tree were abnormally shaped, with red blisters on them.  Craig, my husband, looked on the internet for solutions. We determined that our peach tree was suffering from peach leaf curl, a fungal disease that affects stone fruit trees.  Articles that we found suggested pesticides. But while that would take care of the disease but would ruin our fruit crop for this year.  I wanted to find a treatment that would be natural or organic. Most importantly I wanted a solution that wouldn't harm either us or the peaches!

Natural Options

A couple of  articles that we found suggested using oil of oregano. We happen to use oil of oregano for other uses at home and already had some on hand. That sounded like a good plan to me!  Oil of oregano is supposed to possess natural antibiotic, anti fungal, and antiviral properties.

So we made a solution using 6-7 ml. of oregano or thyme oil per gallon of water and then spray it on the tree.  We repeated this with two or three applications.  Our tree was not dormant, and there were peaches on it already. So, I went ahead and decided to give it a try.  I used a 16 or 24 oz. spray bottle, as our tree is not full-grown yet so I didn't need a large amount of solution for each application.  Along with spraying the tree, we also picked off all of the leaves which were affected by the disease and then burned them.

The Results

Since we sprayed, the leaves on our tree and the growing peaches looked very healthy. Thankfully we enjoyed the peaches off our tree this fall. Our whole crop was saved, thanks to oil of oregano!  The articles I read say that to prevent future problems, spray trees in the fall once the leaves have fallen off, or in the spring before budding takes place. So we'll be doing that this fall.

The best place that I would recommend for purchasing oil of oregano is from DoTerra Essential Oils.

Anything Else?

If you are serious about gaining food independence for your family, there's an important free resource I should refer you to.  You'll learn the secret weapon that farmers and experienced gardeners use to ensure they get consistent results.  Here's the easy registration page for this free video.

Have you dealt with Peach Leaf Curl before? If so, what did you find that worked naturally?