I have a 2 year old Tennosui that has not been hit. It’s got buds this year so I’m hopeful of a couple pears if it can handle the roller coaster temps this year. ARS shows it resistant and it was bred and commonly grown in Houston.
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What are your thoughts on this pear’s taste and texture?
This will be the first year for fruit. Fingers crossed.
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I recently ran across this short piece with observations on pear blight resistance and thought I should leave it in this thread.
The narrative content is largely cumulative to what Clark and others already have reported, but it adds some new links at the end.
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Wanted to revive this thread because its that time of the year for some already and for some of us fireblight will start any time now. I sprayed with copper and am considering spraying antibiotic. Has anyone got strikes yet?
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I have not seen any thing yet
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Not yet. I have my first blooms today on Kieffer and Orient.
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This is an interesting link about Orient and Kieffer. These two have done well in our area.
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I’m new to this site so forgive my ignorance.
I have a question about fire blight on pears … and I’m sure I’ll have a lot to talk about regarding growing fruit.
I posted this as a Reply because I can’t find how to ask the question that would seem to have a logical home on this particular thread.
You forgot to ask the question!
Ask away one of the moderators will move it to a new home if they think it fits somewhere else better.
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I flagged the moderator for you. Hope one of the mods will help you with posting new topic.
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Thanks to all for the replies.
I believe this is the correct thread so I’ll ask it here.
A brief background … I lost a Clapps Favorite to Fire Blight a couple of years ago.
I still have a Flemish Beauty (also highly susceptible to Fire Blight) and an Ambrosia left.
I can’t find anything related to F.B. susceptibility for the Ambrosia but I’ve been spraying them both with streptomycin this season.
Now the question. They’re both in the early fruit forming stage and I’m wondering if there’s a point at which I can stop spraying. They both have maybe 3/16" or larger fruits right now.
I’m worried about the Flemish Beauty and I’m not at all sure when I can stop worrying … if at all.
Thanks so much.
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Bubbagone,
I hope you’ve learned a little more how to tool around this site. It took me a little time, but if you stick with it, it gets easier.
I’m not a big pear guy, but I’m pretty sure I remember reading ambrosia is somewhat resistant to fb.
Once bloom is complete, it doesn’t help to keep spraying bacterial compounds
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Now THAT is good news.
I wasn’t sure if the blossoms were the only way the bacteria could enter.
I think I did read something about penetrations through openings in the bark.
In any event I think the Ambrosia will be okay but I’ll be watching and hoping the Flemish Beauty makes it.
Thanks for the info.
I do have a few more things that have been eating away at me so I think I’ll look for the right threads to pursue them.
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Fireblight attacks growing tissue so the only time we are really safe is winter. That’s important because canker in stone fruits like cherry, peach,and plum is always active. The bloom stage for pears is very dangerous because the blooms grows very rapidly and insects go from bloom to bloom spreading the disease. Fireblight is at its height when its wet and warm. 65 degrees give or take and 65 percent humidity give or take is perfect fireblight weather so for us that’s spring. Our summers July and August are hot but dry so FB does not spread much. Insects eat foliage and birds fly tree to tree so don’t rul it out. Like Olpea said spraying antibiotic past bloom won’t help and once the fruit develop the tree sealed those open flowers. Open wounds and fast growing tissue are the things to watch for now. FB strikes typically tips of branches during this time and amputate below those strikes as fast as you can.
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There is a new pear resistant to fireblight and other diseases, my friend just bought it from Bulgaria about 14 days ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it made it to USA in the upcoming years
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Never heard of that pear Paul. It may take a few years to make it here.
Ambrosia does have some fireblight tolerance as mentioned. The full description can be seen here https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ambrosia.pdf
That Ambrosia pear has some pretty good ancestors. Has anyone tried this pear yet?
@clarkinks I don’t see Harrow Sweet on the USDA list of FB resistant pears. Was it introduced after the list was compiled? Edit: Now I see another thread saying Harrow Sweet is not very blight resistant, so that answers that question. I was about to graft it for a friend, glad I checked!
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