Is This Fire Blight in My New Trees?

General Fruit Growing
#1

Got about 100 trees from Cummins in a shipment, planted them at the beginning of April. Would love some second/third opinions on what I hope isn’t fire blight imported from upstate NY disappointed_relieved:.
I just want to be fully sure before I slice apart all my central leaders and/or request refunds. Fire blight isn’t usually a real big problem here in sunny, tinder-dry California.

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I want to believe this isn’t FB :confounded:

These I pruned out last week before this new stuff just started showing… these three trees were just melting down, I think I saved two of them:
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#2

I suggest you look into fireblight more. It happens all over the continental US. According to the guys at Dave Wilson Nursery, which is in the central valley in CA, fire blight is a huge concern in CA.
If you got them in April from Cummins, im assuming they were bare rooted. Hard to believe they were fire blighted that bad as bare root trees that had yet to break dormancy.
That said, fire blight is an issue here in NY, but not in April when you got your trees.

#3

I know fire blight can occur anywhere, but the long dry season here in CA is a lot kinder. Many of my shipped trees had wounds at the top; I assume inoculum could enter there during the winter. I can tell you that only that one shipment (with 100+ trees packed into one huge box) are showing any issues (most of them are fine so far). I’ve seen FB only once before in my entire life living in coastal california, and I pruned it out and never saw it again.

But… are you trying to say that yes, you think it’s all fire blight? I thought so, I’m looking for confirmation from somebody before I go do a bunch of tree surgery.

#4

Im not confirming or denying thats fire blight. Sometimes its easy to diagnose and sometimes its harder. There is definately something wrong with those trees. There appears to be some pest damage to the leaves as well.
If you a local ag co-op, many times they will be glad to help diagnose problems and reccommend treatments. Be sure to take a sample of the infected plant with you so they can see it in person. IMPORTANT…PLACE IT IN A SEALABLE PLASTIC BAG, AND LEAVE IT IN THERE!!! No nurseryman or woman wants you to bring infected materials into a place without it being protected.

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#5

There was some caterpillar damage… came on fast but BT knocked them out nicely.

#6

I think its a no on FB for 1,2,3 and a sad but hard yes for 4 and 5

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#7

Yeah I felt confident about those latter ones, they’ve already been pruned out. The others I wasn’t sure, but given that they’d all been squished into the box together I wanted to ask.

#8

Agree that the first three pics are not fire blight. Fire blight does not spread from the tips of the leaves down. It spreads from the veins up.

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#9

Thanks all for the reassurance. The black-purple blotches have turned brown and are not progressing… hopefully just related to last week’s extreme heat. It looks like the fire blight was only in the three trees I’d already pruned, so I’m very relieved.