Discolored moldy pears?

I haven’t noticed any lesions on branches. There were these suspicious looking blotches on a few leaves. It’s mostly affecting the fruitlets.



It’s not appearing like how fireblight does. The fruitlets aren’t rapidly wilting. I don’t have any blackening new shoots either on this tree.

That’s pear leaf spot.

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Anthracnose?

@hobilus
Entomosporium (Fabrea)

I have been wondering why Myclobutanil (Immunox) doesn’t have pear on the label. I know people use it anyway and ornamental pear is on the label.

I would suspect it is just because pear growing is less common and pears are less likely to be diseased and so there is a smaller market and it’s not worth getting approved for. But I would also like to know if there is some other reason. I have quite bad CAR and though I didn’t intentionally spray my pear trees with immmunox, some did get misted since they are right next to the apple trees.

For this same reason, I’m busy trying to decide if I should spray my apple trees with some insecticide. They are being chomped on, but my understanding is that any spray will make the pear blister mites go crazy - and I have some already crazy pear blister mites… I wish I had found this forum last year and had known to spray with oil!

Mites profit when their predators and/or competitors are diminished. They are arachnids and not affected by common insecticides – esp. not organics.

I have seen Myclobutanil being mentioned in general fruit spraying guides (@alan and @scottfsmith published some) but haven’t come across any threads suggesting special treatment for pears, which are related to apples and share same diseases.

I believe general sentiment is that pear may be easier to grow than apple, but as with everything, it is highly dependent on location.

Right. My concern is that if I spray for other insects on my apple trees, my pear trees which are nearby will end up with more mites. =(

I don’t know which is worst - the stuff attacking the apple trees or the mites (and other things) on the pear trees.

@benthegirl
Are you allergic to sulfur? If not, consider a WDP (water dispersible powder) to suppress the mites and the diseases they spread.

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For pear leaf blister mite you have to wait until fall to treat the tree (at which point people use sulfur and/or horticultural oil). People also spray again at bud swell. Treating in the spring/summer when you see the damage isn’t effective.

@benthegirl
Yes, that is what is specified on the sulfur WDP label. For spring and summer the remedy is some horrid arachnicide. In my experience these stress our fruit trees as much as the mites.

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Well my tree can’t get a break. The only disease resistance it seems to have going on is against fireblight. Cummins does say it is somewhat susceptible to scab.

I was only worrying about fireblight and precocity when selecting this European pear.

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Once upon a time several decades ago I thought that with our blessed weather my only concerns would be soil, fertilizer, and a single winter spray. Had I not inherited my father’s love and patience for fruit I would have given up long ago. Instead I’ve learned to adapt – giving up on some specimens (black currant as of late) and obtaining anecdotes for what ails many of the others. As a result I have a handful of agricultural licenses and a 6’ x 4’ x 32" pesticide cabinet in the garage.

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I used to think I only wanted to grow low maintenance figs, pawpaws, and persimmons. Peach trees somehow found their way into the yard and probably get a dozen sprays every year. Heck, even the figs get sprayed for SWD now.

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I have found sulphur in the summer to help dampen PLBM. I spray my pears at bud swell with sulphur and oil every spring and have had no PLBM to speak of for quite a few years since starting that. I never did a fall spray for it.

This year it is fireblight and peach leaf curl that are raising their ugly heads, after ten or more years with little or none of either. I don’t have a huge amount of either this year but enough to be noticed and to get treated.

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