Silver leaf
A fungus that enters through pruning wounds and gives the leaves a silvery sheen, then kills branches and eventually the tree. What makes it matter is not the fungus but the calendar: its spores are abundant in the damp months, which are exactly when general pruning advice says to prune.
Caused by: Chondrostereum purpureum
Nothing available to a home grower will fix this
There is no treatment for an infected tree. Silver leaf is prevented by pruning at the right time of year and managed by cutting out infected wood; a tree with the fungus fruiting on its trunk is beyond saving.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf
Checked 2026-08-13
What brings it on
Spores are released in damp autumn and winter weather and infect through fresh wounds. Stone fruit is far more susceptible than pome fruit, which is why plums and cherries are pruned in summer and apples are not.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf
- Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Stone fruit — silver leaf management
Checked 2026-08-13
Usually seen: September, October, November, December, January, February, March
Preventing it
Ordered by how much difference each measure actually makes, not by how often it is repeated.
- Prune plums, cherries, apricots and peaches ONLY between late spring and midsummer, when the tree is growing strongly and spore numbers are low. Never prune stone fruit in autumn or winter.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning plums and cherries
Checked 2026-08-13
- Make clean cuts and prune in dry weather, so wounds seal quickly.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf — prevention
Checked 2026-08-13
- Remove dead wood promptly. The fungus fruits on dead wood and produces the spores that infect living trees nearby.
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf
Checked 2026-08-13
Dealing with it once it is there
- Cut affected branches back to at least 15 cm beyond the last stained wood — the staining in the cut surface, not the silvering of the leaves, shows how far the infection has travelled.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf — control
Checked 2026-08-13
Widely repeated, and not supported
Recorded so GrowingHQ can address them. These are not alternative approaches — they are things the evidence does not back.
“Silvered leaves always mean silver leaf disease.”
A similar silvering — 'false silver leaf' — is caused by stress such as drought or poor nutrition and affects the whole tree evenly, while the disease progresses branch by branch. The distinguishing test is a cut branch: true silver leaf leaves a brown or purple stain in the wood.
Horticultural consensusCommonly said, not supportedhigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Silver leaf
Checked 2026-08-13
What it affects
On sprays and treatments
GrowingHQ does not tell anyone what to apply, at what rate, or how often. Pesticide approvals differ by country, change without notice, and the product label is legally binding — it is also the document you are holding. What is described here is cultural and physical control, which is what a home grower can act on without a label in front of them.