Is this fireblight on this asian pear tree? Only the top of the tree is affected. The other two trees next to it seem fine. I saw the symptoms late last year but I wasn’t sure and it says I can only spray during bloom to prevent it. So I bought Harbour fungicide (streptomycin sulface) last week, I haven’t even sprayed it yet. Can I at least save the bottom part of the tree? Assuming I have to get rid of the affected top.
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yes.
My Hosui has shrugged off some fireblight strikes but looks like youve got a case that has spread quite a bit.
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Fireblight will kill a tree to the roots if allowed to go. It works it’s way down the tree killing the tree until the fireblight portion is amputated. In some cases the entire tree has it in the trunk and the tree dies. Had a tree killed in a day before. That looks like fireblight. Spraying with copper will also help in many cases. Had several trees like that last year. 4 trees total were hit.
I sprayed with copper every year. I sprayed copper mixed with dormant oil last week. I can’t believe how quick it progresses. I guess I will cut about half of the tree and spray the rest. Oh well. Thank you.
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It would be best to graft that tree over to a resistant type of pear. This is a pear i had last year that wasn’t resistant. This happened in a day when it had it’s first small fruit on it.
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I think this tree is Yoinashi, and I grafted the top part with Shinseiki. The other two next to this are Shinko and Hosui and they both are fine.
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Yoinashi will be crossed off my list. I’m sorry to hear you had a tree hit with this bacteria. It can be a devastating disease. A pear orchard not far from here it swept through 40 trees killing 90% of the tree growth. The trees were susceptible. The tree i had killed to the ground had its rootstock sprout up and grow. The ohxf333 rootstock is tough. Ohxf87 and ohxf97 are very resistant as well.
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The rootstock is betulaefolia on all three trees. I have 5 european pears nearby that seem fine.
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They say betulaefolia is susceptible but i have never lost a single betulaefolia to fireblight. If you sprayed the others with copper it definately helps.
I hate this Fireblight thing, I lost one Asian pear to this FB already.
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I just removed my Shinseiki earlier today. I grafted it on the 20th Century pear.
This 20th Century has at least 7 Asian pear varieties grafted on it. Shinseiki was the only one that succumbed fire blight…
Shinseiki is more susceptible to fire blight than most, in my experience.
Shinko is reputed to have high tolerance to fire blight…
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Kosui had some strikes last year, but most things did. It did not die i amputated parts quickly. I’m keeping it on probation. Pai li had a small strike but appeared resistant.
I am about to spray the streptomycin sulfate now. And I will remove the affected part, if not most of the tree, tomorrow. I have no scion available right now so I can’t really graft anything. I will try to save the lower part of the tree.
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Clark,
Most Asian pears I grow have gotten hit by fire blight here and there (including my 15 years Korean Giant) but nothing extensive like Shinseiki.
I have 2 grafts of Shinseiki. Both died of fire blight.
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That has been my similar experience with most pears. Very few get killed to the ground. Will definately avoid those mentioned. Korean giant gets very few strikes for me. Charles harris does get an occasional strike.
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Clark, what about other pears, I have Hood, I’m worrying about this pear. It’s a European pear.
I’m debating whether I should get Warren or not.
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Hood and Warren don’t get fireblight usually. If they do it will be minor. The tree doesn’t die. They are ideal in your climate. Warren is delicious.
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I saw something weird with my Hood pear, so I removed the branched, hopefully it will be ok.
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It will be ok. You might get a strike here and there, but it won’t kill the tree to the ground in a day. Never have seen it with certain pears. In your climate your pears are somewhat limited by chill hours. Those are perfect pears for that area!
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