Holy Plum Tree Batman!!

Anyone like to have a guess at the cause of this damage to our Victoria plum?
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Hello Dave!!

That look's like caterpillar damage!!

Looks like it could be one of the Winter Moth's caterpillar's (Looper caterpillars).

Wingless female moths emerge from the soil in winter & early spring, mate then crawl up host plant to lay their eggs. The moth lay their eggs around the twigs, near buds or in bark crevices. The caterpillars will feed from March to the end of June, then drop down on a silken thread to pupate.

Plum tree's are one of their favorite feeding plants!! They leave irregular holes in leaves, often before they have expanded from bud. The main attack is in spring & early summer. They will even attack the fruit blossom which will reduce your crop amount!!

It is best to place grease bands (Boltac bands) around the stems, trunks & stakes from September to March. Make sure its nice & tight so that the female moths can't get underneath it!!
If you can see lot's of caterpillar's on the leaves, spray with Fenitrothion.

There are 3 types of 'Looper' caterpiller's:
(1)Winter moth caterpillars are green with three yellow longitudinal stripes.
(2)Mottles umber moth caterpillars are dark brown with yellow lateral longitudinal bands.
(3)March moth caterpillars are green with light-coloured stripes.

Hope this helps!!!! :D

 

Gosh ,I have a tree looks like that,I thought it was done by hailstones.

 

Thanks Bigbird but Joyce has it spotted correctly. Well done Joyce!
We had the worst hail storm I've ever seen a week ago - the hail was lying thick on the ground and inches thick in corners. 13 mm (once melted in the rain gauge) in 30 minutes. Lost about a third of the embryonic crop on our blueberry bushes and a lot of bedding plants were damage. Plum tree looks like it has been peppered by a shotgun!

 

Wow!! That was bad. Oh well I got it wrong :o. But I have learn't alot with researching & what damage hail stones can do!! :D