Wild pears are blooming now and the fruiting and ornamental pears will be doing so very soon. You can prune off infected branches but avoiding the disease all together is best. Once the tree starts showing signs of blight it is too late to spray the tree. This helps prevent the disease from entering through the blooms. You can help prevent the disease by spraying your pear tree with Ferti-lome Fire Blight Spray when the tree starts flowering during spring. It moves from the new growth to older growth quickly and can be spread from diseased to healthy plants by rain, wind and pruning tools. The disease enters a tree through natural openings, especially flowers in spring. It is caused by bacteria and is destructive and highly infectious and therefore a widespread disease. There is no cure for fire blight once a tree is infected. Contact our Dallas-Fort Worth team today at 81 to get started.You’ve seen fire blight on ornamental and fruiting pear trees – brown to black leaves, twigs and branches appearing as if scorched by fire. At TreeNewal, we understand the urgency of this situation and will schedule a timely appointment with you to evaluate your trees and discuss your options. If you’ve noticed signs of fire blight on your trees, it’s important to act as quickly as possible. Our Team of Certified Arborists Is Here To Help Applying a fungicide to new blooms to reduce the risk of further infection.Reducing the rapid tissue growth of trees by avoiding growth promotion techniques like fertilizing.Pruning diseased branches approximately 12 inches below the canker in the dormant winter months.The fire blight management process includes: While there is no cure for fire blight, managing it over several years may restore the tree’s health. How To Manage Fire Blightįire blight disease management starts with identification, as looking for signs as early as possible can minimize damage. Young trees that grow quickly are more vulnerable to fire blight, while slower-growing mature trees are more resistant to damage. The bacteria move in long, narrow paths outward from the dark cankers they form and into the healthy wood of the tree. The insects carry the bacteria from tree to tree, leading to its spread.Īlthough it often enters the tree through its flowers, fire blight also attacks the fruits, leaves, roots, and branches through minor injuries on their surfaces, such as those caused by insects or wind. In the spring, the bacteria ooze from twigs and fruits, which attracts insects. Wilted twigs that curve and curl downward.įire blight has a distinctive life cycle that begins when the bacteria overwinter in the cankers and branches of affected trees.The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension describes the signs of fire blight on an ornamental pear tree. Vascular wilt makes it easy to spot fire blight, as it leads to visible signs that are similar across all affected tree species. One study explains that this condition occurs when a pathogen enters the xylem vessels, or water pathways, of the plant and blocks the water and nutrients from passing through them. After infecting a tree, fire blight causes vascular wilt.

Fire blight commonly affects pome fruit trees, such as apple and pear, as their open flowers provide access for the bacteria to enter the tree. It’s highly destructive and spreads quickly to surrounding trees, where it creates cankers, or areas of dead tissue. What Is Fire Blight?įire blight is an infectious tree disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora. In this blog post, we’ll explain what fire blight is, share the signs and life cycle of the disease, and detail the fire blight management process. However, early identification and treatment can restore tree health and prevent fire blight from spreading further. Fire blight can cause severe and widespread damage to trees that can ultimately result in tree death.

Pear blight treatment