Citrus and Grape Leaves Distorted, Suspected Weed Killer



Leaves of citrus cupped and
distorted.

Q. Please see the attached photos of curly leaves. The one branch is from a citrus tree (lemon vs. tangerine) and the other is my grape.  The citrus has several small, green fruit, looks healthy otherwise.  The grape had many grapes which we have eaten, and doesn't appear to be problematic, but I just want to be sure.  Are either of these concerning? Are they related?  I looked at your blog, and hate to admit it, but I do not know how to ask a question on that venue.

 

A. The leaves of your citrus look like they are cupped, twisted and distorted. The kind of distortion helps to identify what the cause might be. In the case of twisted or "stretched" leaves this can be because of damage from herbicides or weed killers that were sprayed a week or more before you saw the damage. This is typical of what we call phenoxy type herbicides. An example of a phenoxy type herbicide is 2,4-D, the dandelion killer commonly used for weed control in lawns.

Usually the leaf has to be subjected to some sort of damage and then the leaf GROWS in a distorted fashion so it usually means the damage appears several days or a week or more after the damage occurs. In your case, I dont know but they leaves still look healthy but distorted. I would just continue to monitor it and hopefully the leaves will be distorted just for this year.

Grape leaf distorted

The plant SHOULD grow out of it and symptoms will probably be gone next year. The fruit is safe to eat next year.