Has anyone tried Serenade to combat fire blight? It’s clearly labeled for Erwinia. Very seriously thinking about purchasing some, but the shelf life for the 2.5 gallon is short. The $450 bag of opti supposedly lasts for 6 years.
What brands and products have been proven most useful for fusarium? Cease sounds promising but is not labeled to combat Erwinia. I would like one product that is useful for both Erwinia and Fusarium.
Serenade is a concentrate of the Lipopeptides (Iturins,Fengycins,Surfactins) produced by Bacillus Subtillis strain (QST 713).
QST 713 is not the only Bacillus Subtillis that produces those compounds it was just selected to be the best at it.
If your in a pinch and want to try something. you can Find bacillus Subtillis in your local frozen asian food section as Natto
Natto, Vitamin K2, Fungicide, Serenade, Peaches - General Fruit Growing - Growing Fruit
You can easily expand the bacillus Subtills onto any bean you have available. There is absolutely no requirements to use soybeans.
Once produce you just mash it into a paste throw in a 5 gallon bucket and strain the solids away.
No guarantee you will have the Lipopeptides, but its easy enough to leave a control tree un treated and see the results.
I purchased a 2.5 gallons from Seven Springs for $110. Best deal around.
Although tomato and pepper treatment was the reason for the purchase, I also plan on using it to prevent fire blight. First application will be tomorrow. I have a couple young trees and a couple problem trees that will be seeing treatment. I will provide an update in 4 weeks.
Applied round 2 yesterday evening. I did find a couple flowers that appear to be infected. I’m seeing good fruit setting this year.
Conditions have been ideal for bight. It was very warm last week. 2024, 50 percent of the tree was pruned away. 2025, about 20 percent.
Various issues have ravaged my tomatoes during the last 15 years and the Fusarium has just been awful in the last couple.
Flawless tomatoes for 2026. I drenched the plant holes with Serenade. I spray the vines with Serenade an Mancozeb every other week, and I re drench the soil once every two weeks.
Peppers are seeing the same treatment. No issues with them either.
I used Serenade for about ten years and don’t think it is very strong stuff.. it never seemed to make a lot of difference. So I stopped using it. Try leaving one plant untreated/sprayed and see if it does any worse. You could save money if its not doing anything.
