Question
Hi Charlotte,
I have several fruit and vegetable plants.  In particular, I have peach and plum trees.  I also have several lemon bushes along with a recent addition of an avocado plant.  Everytime these plants try to produce new leaves the leaves get "attacked" by some type of insect...they have weblike strings on them and the leaves don't open up all the way.  If they do open all the way, they are distorted looking and curled up on the ends.  I have tried all sorts of sprays that are "fruit friendly" for vegetables and fruit trees.  However, they don't seem to work.  My plants never totally die because of this, but they don't seem to every really get to growing because something attacks them before the leaves can totally produce.  I was wondering if you have any thoughts of something organic I could use for this?  I am so sick of throwing money away on sprays that don't work.  

Answer
Hi Jill;
I don't know what those insects are.
because I have been on an organic program for about 10 years, I have a very large herd of lawn critters. I have hundreds ( maybe more) lizards. I see then running in my fruit trees, my roses and along the fence. They keep all the insects out of my trees. I have plumcot, luot, aprium, and apricot, peach, crabapple, fig, pear and apple trees, and I just don't ever see insects or insect damage in them.
I have toads and grass snakes too, so I don't have slugs, grubs, army worms or anything else I don't want in the yard and garden.
MAN!!! I wish I had known all this years ago.
I spent about 50 years slaving to try and get ahead of the bugs and fungus etc, spent several fortunes on sprays, fertilizers etc, and stayed two steps behind all the pests and diseases.
And I worked myslf into a terribly bad back, and no working joints anymore.
I might still have a body that worked had I not ruined it trying to be superwoman.LOL
If fruit has already started to grow, it is too late for garlic pepper tea.
I am thinking if it was sprayed after fruit starts to form, that it would flavor eht fruit.
I may be wrong about that.
If no fruit has formed yet, put a couple of dried HOT pepper ( chilis are good) and 2 or 3 whole bulbs of garlic( not just a few cloves) in the blender with 1 quart water, and whirr till it is as liquid as you can get it. Strain out all the minute particles, and add 1 cup of this tea to 1 gallon water.
spray well with that, and be sure to get under the leaves as well as on top.
I have never used this tea, as I always wait until the fruit is started, and then I think it is too late.
I want something to kep the squirrels from stealing all my fruit.
The lizards take care of the bugs.
The way you descrivbe the trail of silken thread sounds like silkworms.
I had them in my mimosa trees.
Leaf curl seems to be particular to pear trees, so I don't think it is that.
Sounds like the insect is wrapping the leaves around their nests or whatever they lay their eggs in.
With the web, it does sound like an insect, rather than a fungus.
Maybe you could paint the leaves with garlic tea, only concentrate it more than 1 cup tea to a gallon of water, and paint the trunks.
I don't know how many trees you have, and whether they are standards or dwarfs, so I don't know if that is a practical solution for you.
If you can get the garlic pepper tea on without getting it on fruit, I think that might work.
If that is not a solution for you, or it doesn't work on the problem you have, write me back, and I will research on the organic site I have a membership to and try to find a solution.
It may be too late for this year's crop, but maybe we can find out what to do to prevent losses in the future.
Charlotte