Keep an eye out for cherry blackfly
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If your cherry tree has curling, yellowing leaves it’s possible that it has been affected by cherry blackfly. Read on to find out how to control this garden pest.
These wingless bugs live on the underside of cherry leaves
Image: Tomasz Klejdysz/Shutterstock
Cherry blackfly, or cherry aphids, are a type of aphid that feed on fruiting and ornamental cherry trees. These sap-sucking aphids overwinter as eggs, hatching out in the spring and living on the underside of cherry leaves.
The shiny, black wingless bugs will then lay their eggs near cherry buds in the autumn.
Curled leaves are the first signs of blackfly infestation
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Cherry blackfly live on the underside of leaves and look like small, black eggs.
The first signs of infestation are unsightly damage to your cherry tree’s foliage. These aphids feed at the shoot tips and cause leaves to grow crumpled or curled.
They excrete sticky honeydew on which develops a black, sooty mould. This mould reduces the amount of light that the leaves get and causes them to yellow and drop off.
Blackfly infestation usually leave the growing cherry fruit alone
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Cherry blackfly feed on the leaf sap of fruiting and ornamental cherries - although Japanese varieties are often unaffected.
Although they cause unattractive damage to a tree’s foliage, they don’t usually affect fruit bearing and the tree will normally survive.
Japanese varieties, like 'Kojo-no-mai' are more resistant to cherry blackfly
Image: Prunus incisa 'Kojo-No-Mai' from Thompson & Morgan
Here’s how to control a cherry blackfly infestation:
For more information on fruit trees, visit our comprehensive hub page.
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