Help Identify Pear Disease

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by ckline, May 21, 2006.

  1. ckline

    ckline Member

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    Location:
    Mount Laurel, NJ
    Hi all,

    My little pear orchard lives at my sister-in-laws house. She has a big open field that I we "borrow". I have not been out there to visit in a while and went there yesterday. I was really upset by what I found. A few of my pear trees are not doing well and after years of growing just fine.

    I "think" they might have Fire Blight, but I am not that familiar with diseases. Can anyone help to identify this problem from the photos? Also, are there any organic methods of dealing with whatever this is? I immediately pruned the diseased wood out. I did not have any way of steralizing my pruners though.... should I make a solution and go back now and clean up the cuts?

    Also... one of my trees (magness pear) has lost ALL the leaves. It still seems alive since I see green below the bark - but I have no idea what happened.

    Thanks for any help.

    - Charles
     

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  2. nessiedmf

    nessiedmf Member

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    Location:
    USA
    Hi Charles,

    Well, I can say that the pictures you showed look very much like the fire blight that has killed 3 of my pear trees. Here is the Texas A&M web site that talks about pear trees, see the bottom of the page where it talks about fire blight.

    http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/pear/pear.html

    I've lost 3 Moonglow pear trees to that disease because it engulfed them so entirely that I decided it best to go ahead and cut them down...and Moonglows are supposed to be one of the ones that are more resistant to fire blight.

    I have a 4th pear tree that is a Warren Pear and from what I've read it's probably one of the most fire blight resistant, if not the most resistant of the fruit bearing pears. It even contracted the disease last year when my Moonglows died, to a lesser extent but still severe. However, I was able to save it by pruning it like the Texas A&M web site suggested, pruning back on the limbs 12" into the healthy tissue away from the disease, and disinfecting the pruning shears in between every cut. This year my Warren is looking good and has recovered back to the size it should've reached last year.

    The pictures you have posted don't show a close up of the completely destroyed leaves/limbs. But, here's a tip. If the completely destroyed leaves and limbs literally look like they've been torched in a fire, then it's almost certainly fire blight. Another symptom that may or may not occur is that the very most affected limbs might be curled at the end like a shepherd's hook. That happened to a few of the limbs on my trees, and I've read that it's a tell tale symptom, but it doesn't always happen.

    Whatever you decide to do, from my experience, do it quickly. This disease can travel 12" up a limb in one night if it's travelling fast.

    Best of luck!
    Dee
     
  3. nessiedmf

    nessiedmf Member

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    Hi again Chuck,

    I was just reviewing the pictures you posted.....duh, I didn't realize that they would enlarge if I clicked on them. I looked at the first one and it shows the classic symptoms of fire blight....the burnt leaves...the crook in the blackened branches like a shepherd's hook. Sorry I didn't see that before. I'd say it's fire blight. I wish I had a recommendation on the cuts you've already made, but I don't. Other than, perhaps, if you didn't cut them back 12" into healthy tissue, then you can go back and prune back the branches, this time disinfecting the pruning shears.

    I feel you're pain. I hate to see a pear tree so diseased.

    Best of luck,
    Dee
     
  4. jimweed

    jimweed Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Aldergrove
    Looks very much like fire blight. You should take your time and make sure to remove all the the diseased areas with clean shears. It is a nasty disease, spreads fast, and can be hard to control. I would aslo think that in the dormant season you would be able to see better where it has infected, and remove all the black tips, braches, and cankers then as well. Copper is all I've ever used for its control, but if it does'nt come back the next year it seems to in a couple years down the road. Proper pruning and carefully timed sprays are your best defence. Thats about all I know about fire blight. except that it does clean up nice on cotoneasters, a couple copper sprays while there flowering and when the berrys start growing, prune it out and it's never seem to re infect. Read up on it, theres lots to learn, even insects can help it to spread. Jim.
     
  5. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Sometime check out Blossom blast and see how
    it affects Pears both fruiting and ornamental. When
    the tips of some of the branch ends turn the brown
    color rather than get hit out of no where, wilt and
    immediately turn black this is more likely to be
    due to a blast rather than from Fire blight. The
    Pear cluster would generally all have died out
    and turned black like the one is in the third photo
    if this were strictly Fire blight. All the symptoms
    I am seeing is closer to being a Blossom blast which
    can also cause a Twig blast. The deadened areas in
    the first photo are a result of a Twig blast. The tips
    get hit, the leaves wilt, shrivel, turn brown, later turn
    dark brown or black and may or may not fall off the
    tree on their own later in the year. A canker is not
    necessarily formed and there is little indication that
    beyond the infection site that the wood has been
    affected or infected. Here for our Bradford Pears
    for example we have learned to live with this as
    we will not get enough areas to be hit every year to
    warrant anything other than to prune off the damaged
    tips if need be and give the tree a Copper based
    fungicide spray in the very early Spring.

    Fire blight here just blasts that whole area, gives the
    impression of a severe charring and is not selective
    in the areas it hits. It will hit the whole area with a
    vengeance. We will see some oozing of sap right
    after a burn and then if we do not cut out the canker
    we can lose the whole limb or branch.

    With a Blossom blight it is very rare here to see
    much further damage to the branch than 2-3"
    beyond the infected area. Most people here don't
    do anything for it any more for the ornamental
    Pears that get hit. If you can reach the infected
    areas then cut the damaged tips off, if not, then
    leave them as they should fall off but do not
    always do fall off on their own off later. For
    fruiting Pears we will go in and trim out the
    diseased area. You would not leave a Fire blight
    infection alone for either type of Pear, you have
    to treat for it or the infection will spread.

    Jim
     
  6. Dixie

    Dixie Active Member

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    Location:
    Arkansas, USA
    you can spray a preventative. since you have had it this year you should definitely spray next year right when the buds begin to swell. there is a product called Agrimycen that is is basically an anti-biotic. we had bad fireblight one year on bradford pears and crabapples that took us by suprise. it was a battle. this was on about 50 trees at a local mall. after spending a full day or two properly removing the dead tissue, sure enough there was somemore a few days later. i found out about Agrimycen and we made sure to spray it before it had a chance to get started the following year and it really helped. it isn't that costly, but it sure beats two or three days of pruning, disinfecting, over and over again. i have read that cool, wet springs are prime for fireblight outbreaks. good luck, i feel ya.
     

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