Doing my orchard walk today, I noticed a few dead/dying leaves on my Red Delicious/M.7 apple tree. Overall, the tree has shown solid vigor and looks very healthy, and farther up the branch there are healthy leaves. We haven’t had a frost for over a week, so I assume that is not the issue.
If this is fireblight, do I cut the branch completely off, or just remove about 6 inches down the branch from the infected area?
Doesn’t look like it, but check it the next couple days to make sure.
Usually fireblight gets the growing tip of the branch and spreads down from there. The leaves scorch from the midvein out.
Here are some good pics:
If you decide it’s fireblight just cut a stub well below the infected part.
Check for the ooze, seems like some burn instead. I don’t see any curled tips or ooze in those pics at least.
The appearance of fire blight varies depending on the physiology of the tree leaves and tree variety.
Golden Delicious leaves do not vein when infected with blight. If one were to wait until the leaves discolored, the whole would imperiled. It takes about 5 days or longer for a golden delicious leaf to go from wilt to black.
Unless the temperatures have been down to 25° or lesa, this is surely a case of fire blight.
Honestly that looks more like minor frost damage to me than fireblight. Fireblight usually gives you that classic shepherd’s crook where the shoot tip curls over, and the leaves go black rather than just browning at the edges. If the rest of the branch looks healthy I’d just keep an eye on it for now rather than cutting anything.
