Is this FB on the upper 1/2 of my Conference Pear?
Notice the change of color on the bark.
Don’t see the expected shepherd’s hook
Thanx Mike
That looks like it could be fireblight that entered through a shoot in the trunk. I’m having a hard time seeing it on my phone. If the trunk is black and the wood brown underneath carve it out back to good wood. Conference does get fireblight but it also does not seem to like the hot Kansas sun very much. I’ll take another look on my computer when I can. Those dark brown leaves I think I see are pretty unmistakable though and are typically a fireblight strike. Shepherds hooks are only the case when fireblight strikes occur on the tips of branches with new growth which is more common. Some other diseases are similar eg. Blackrot but there will be signs there that give the disease away if you know what your looking for. https://ipm.illinois.edu/diseases/rpds/814.pdf
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i have that on my fuji apple right now. killed my lodi apple last year. my foliage is just starting to yellow. the canker on mine is more advanced.
Not happy.
The tree might be a goner. There was heavy rain here over the last 10 days (6-7 inches) . I looked at the trunk and it looks almost like streaks of sooty water had run down the trunk.
Two arm/scaffolds are above the photo I attached. The sooty runoff might have reached all the way down.
**QUESTION:If the bark is not damaged does it offer any protection against infection?. If so I could “wash” the trunk surface with copper then Lime-sulfur and then cut off the top. It took 5 years for this tree to fruit and this is the first with any substantial fruit numbers.
Mike
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mine hasn’t girdled the trunk yet but just about! think im going to disinfect w/ diluted bleach and chop it before it spreads to my other plants. seen some vids where they scrape out the infected layer but its in bigger trees. think mines a goner! mike yours might lose the branch but maybe be able to save the tree? see what others say about it.
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Steve,
This is an espalier. The upright you see behind is the main trunk of the tree and it is %# too.
Mike
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@MES111
Mature bark offers protection but once it’s in the trunk it’s like fire following gasoline. If your going to save the roots act quickly. My opinion is amputate asap and regraft next year.
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sadly thats what i just did to my fuji. 
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I find , not always, but most of the time, damage under the bark. Why always the crotch or structural part of the tree? Why not the end of a limb? Darn!
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Hold on. I thought fireblight entered through blossoms? No?
Fireblight ruins the fruit on my Flemish Beauty every year
I spray it every year but never the trunk.
Would it matter if I did?
Right now there are entire branches covered with black leaves.
I already cut out as many as I could reach.
I have to get the equipment out to remove some significant branches higher up.
It blossoms every year, fruit forms, cracks, and never matures.
I’m keeping it to pollinate the Ambrosia next to it.
I’m assuming Ambrosia needs a pollinator.
I’d have gotten rid of the Flemish before now except for that.
I already took down a Clapp’s because of fireblight.
Am I off base?
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My experience with FB. It enters through the blossom and it will also show up on branches. Most of my pear varieties have some resistance but even they will get some damage. The damage is normally minor.
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Yes, there are a few minor examples on the Ambrosia and even the Asian pears. But the Flemish is ridiculous with it.
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Fireblight can enter through any growing tissue. Let’s say a Japanese beetle chews on a leaf of a fireblight infected apple then flys over to your pear and lands on a branch that cambium tissue on the branch is growing and it can enter the branch. Most insects land on leaves because that’s what they eat. Birds also land on branches and bring infection with them. Since it’s a bacteria it can travel a short distance very easily.
Q: Once a susceptible tree like the Flemish has it, are sprays useless on that tree?
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That’s correct if the tree has it sprays such as copper & antibiotics won’t help. I have mixed white vinegar with water (vinegar is a mild herbicide also) and sprayed and stopped fireblight when it’s not entered the trunk yet. Winter will stop it because as soon as the tree stops growing the fireblight is no longer active.
Looked like one of my grafted conference pears is alive on BET rootstock. Thought I lost them all.
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