Looking at the USDA test rankings, Ginger Gold is the best GD progeny for fireblight. Ranking 4th in the 98/99 trials.
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Best meaning least fireblight? Ginger Gold is a fireblight magnet in my orchard, one of the worst.
Worse than average fire blight here this yearākilled two Asian pears (Meigetsu and my last Hosui). There are many small-to-medium strikes on susceptible apples (usually not as severely affected as pears here).
Just wanted to chime in, because Chestnut Crab has been positively mentioned a couple of times in thread. My young Chestnut (grafted on M111 in 2022 with scion from @39thparallel) is directly downwind from a Mutsu full of strikes. Chestnut did receive a few tip strikesābut thatās all they were: none was longer than an inch, and the tree quickly compartmentalized them, allowing them to progress no further down the young, green tissue. The lost tips have since been replaced by new, vigorous growth. Chestnut is almost certainly resistant here. (Also in its favor: have not seen a speck of CAR on itāand we are utterly surrounded by eastern red cedars full of cedar āapples.ā)
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That is what their fireblight inoculation test showed. 4th best resistance out of 14 tested that year. Maybe they were resistant to the strain used.
Golden Supreme is resistant to many things other then blight; but it is not a GD relative. Just much like it.
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Yes I canāt think of any other reason for such a wide disparity. I almost took it out one year because it had so many strikes.
It sounds like Chestnut is resistant to many strains given how all of us seem to be doing well with it.
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I have a lot of Roxbury Russet trees. They are very productive easy to grow. One of the best around here for cider production. You do trade super high brix for lower juice production with them. I would have said they are top tier for disease resistance, but Iām seeing a few FB strikes on the espaliered trees in river bottom orchard. No problems with free standing trees up on the hill.
Your mileage will vary, Past performance does not guarantee future results. There are a lot of apples out of the 200+ varieties I grow I have not yet seen major disease issues with. I hesitate to recommend rare / oddball varieties that I have not personally seen a long record of or had others confirm they are worth growing.
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I was just pleasantly surprised my Blairmont on M111 has apparently resurrected itself from death by fireblight. Glad I stuck with it and cared for it like all the others. It is leafing out well.
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@39thparallel How about Kandil Sinap? I have one I grafted (scion from you) on G11 and am wondering how it could fare no-spray? Itās just too interesting of an apple to not take a crack at growing itā¦also wondering about fresh eating quality?
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I havenāt seen any major problems with Kandil Sinap. Its flavor is good for a table apple. It might fare well with no spraying in the right location.
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I want to add all the Sinaps at one point. But especially the caramel flavor notes Sary version.
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Interesting, my Roxburyās came from Mike, but Iāve had a very different experience with them. I lost one of 3 from fire blight, and the other two were plagued by it each season. They had large open wounds on the trunk and the laterals were reduced to 2-3ā stubs. I was ready to pull them, and then they turned around. Active fire blight strikes stopped, one of the trees has healed over itās trunk, the other is working on it. I started spraying streptomyacin in the spring, perhaps that brought them around. Laterals are starting to reform, and the black on the trunks has gone away. I replaced the 3rd tree and itās growing well without strikes, so far. If I recall, @Lodidian had issues with Roxbury Russet here in upstate NY as well.
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We didnāt experience it ourselves, but an orchard two miles away has hundred year old Roxburys that got hit three years ago.
I lost one Roxbury russet on Antonovka. It ran all the way into the roots fast. I have another on b118 that is still holding its own, but I have pruned out some suspicious areas since losing the other.
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Another FB resistant suggestion is Bonkers / NY 73334-35 from the New York Fruit Experiment Station. Itās a Liberty / Red D cross resistant to FB, Scab and Rust. Juicy with a sweet tart flavor.
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My most fireblight resistant apples are
Honeycrisp
Prarie spy
Haralson
39thparallel
Snow
My seedling apples eg. Clarks crabapple
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@39thparallel Iām growing this apple, glad to hear its disease resistance is legit. How is the flavor, do you think itās better or equal to Liberty in fresh eating? Just ate my first Liberty apple this weekend and I thought it was pretty good
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I would say itās in the same flavor profile as Liberty. Bonkers seems to ripen up over a long period making it better suited the backyard then a production orchard. That may be one of the reasons it was never officially released by Cornell. I have found that letting Liberty hang longer changes it from fair to great.
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@39thparallel Hey Mike, Iām gaining interest in your Black Amish apple. Can you sell me on it? 
I am kind of deciding between it or Swiss Limbertwig for my very limited orchard spaceā¦I may try to get both in there somewhere but wanted to hear more from someone with experience growing them. I am looking for trees that can make it in VA without spraying. Thanks for any further insight/experience.
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Black Amish aka Hoover is a tangy and juicy bite. Good pie apple too.
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Fire blight bacteria can grow in a wide range of temperatures, but they thrive in warm, humid, and rainy conditions:
- Optimal temperature
The ideal temperature for fire blight bacteria to grow is between 70Ā°F and 77Ā°F (21Ā°C to 25Ā°C).
- Rapid growth
At temperatures between 65Ā°F and 75Ā°F, the bacteria can double every 20 to 30 minutes.
- Disease development
Fire blight can develop at temperatures as low as 39Ā°F, but itās most likely to occur when temperatures are between 65Ā°F and 70Ā°F.
- Outbreaks
Outbreaks of fire blight often happen after high-impact events like hail, strong winds, or heavy rain. These events can damage the tree and create wounds that allow the bacteria to enter.
Other factors that favor the development of fire blight include: High relative humidity, Sprinkler irrigation, High nitrogen fertilizers, Severe pruning, and Heavy dew.
ā¦
My only apple tree to survive more that 5 years here is my Early Mcintosh apple.
A host of others I have tried all died of fire blight within 2 years once they started blooming.
My Early Mcintosh apple is a FG2 appleā¦ so it blooms and sets fruit before it warms up good here.
FG1 and FG2 apples here will often suffer complete crop failure due to blooming setting fruit and then we get a late frost in the mid 20s.
Butā¦ they dont get fire blight because they bloom and set fruit before our temps get up into that 65-75 range.
FG3 and FG4 applesā¦
The last two big fireblight events hereā¦ started in the last half of FG3 bloom periodā¦ and continued thru the FG4 bloom period.
Any apple tree still blooming late March and into Aprilā¦ (last half of FG3 and into FG4 here)ā¦ yesā¦ we were up into that 65-75 temp range by thenā¦ and any blossoms on any scaffold branch still active got fireblight.
My Novamac is a FG4 apple and it starts blooming good early Aprilā¦ and continues thru Aprilā¦ it is said to be very reaistent to fireblightā¦ but it got a load of fireblight last springā¦ just like all my other FG3 and 4 trees did.
It did survive itā¦ but I had to just keep cutting off fruit spurs, branches ā¦ including two of 4 scaffold branches.
I bet a lot of apples get thought to be fireblight resistent simply because they bloom before it warms up good (65-75).
Liberty for example is in FG2.
To get past my late frost (wiping out all apples) problemā¦ I really need FG4 apples.
FG4 apples here are going to get fire blight.
They will be actively blooming when we get 65-75 temps.
Are there actually any FG4 apples that bloom in 65-75 temp range at your site that have proven to be fireblight resistent ?
TNHunter
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