Bradford) are unaffected by the disease but can develop it when the environment is advantageous to disease development. In your home garden, fire blight can be very damaging to pear and apple trees especially pear trees as they are very susceptible. Infected branches should never be left on the ground when pruned, they should be immediately burnt or put in a bin as placing them on the ground could infect the surrounding bushes or trees. At this time, the bacterial emerges from its dormant period and the cankers become more pronounced. Late spring or early summer is the maximum time of risk of infection. Tools should be sterilized after use on an infected plant. Gardening tools can transmit the disease when gardening or even when watering.Plants make contact all the time, that way the bacteria can move from an infected plant to an uninfected plant.Rain drops splashes the bacteria among plants.Insects, birds, and animals transmit it from one plant to another.In wet spring weather, a translucent milk-like, sticky liquid that contains multitudes of bacteria oozes out of the infected part of plant.įire blight spreads effortlessly in a lot of different ways and through different means, they include: Fire blight affects many parts of the plant including leaves, stems, fruits and blossoms. Cankers, which are slightly sunken areas show up on the branches and the trunk. These dead twigs go black and curl over like a shepherd’s hook.” Affected branches look fire scorched as their leaves are black and wilted. The disease moves through the branch, infecting and killing young twigs. Flowers infected by the disease turn black and die. The first signs of fire blight usually appear in early spring, when the weather is humid and rainy and when temperatures rise above sixty degrees. Unlike dieback, fire blight attacks flowers first, twigs next and finally branches. In addition to fruit trees, it attacks ornamental plants like roses, cotoneaster crabapple, loquat, hawthorn, pyracantha, and mountain ash. It is caused by bacteria, its effects are devastating and it leaves a behind a burnt appearance this is where it gets its name from. For best pollination, plant it with another Asian-type.Fire blight is a hard to control disease of fruit trees like pear and apple. 'Shinko' (shown above right) is an Asian-type that has firm, crisp fruit that stores well.'Seckel' grows well in cold climates too. ![]() It has small fruit and is one of few European pears that are ready for eating right after harvest.
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