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#1
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Pear Tree Death
In article , "The Ranger" writes: | | Damn. That's what I was afraid of; not much can be done because of the level | of damage and how long I let it spread. I could probably excavate a large | portion of the dirt that is currently in the area but that doesn't even | sound like a "sure thing." | | Maybe a non-pome sapling is more appropriate now... That's the safest solution. But don't take all of the dire warnings as certain - it is a very unpredictable disease and plants often don't get it or get it and recover. Bordeaux mixture helps. I get the impression it is more serious in the USA than the UK, even on the same plants, but I have no idea why. Regards, Nick Maclaren, University of Cambridge Computing Service, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. Email: Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679 |
#2
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Pear Tree Death
"The Ranger" wrote in message ...
My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- so says the nursery I brought some of the curled leaves and dried twigs to for examination. He labeled the problem, fire blight. He, unfortunately, was unable to provide much of anything else in the way of help, though, like aside from removing the dead tree, how much of the soil should remain behind, how should I go about preparing the soil for another sapling, how long I should allow the ground to remain free of any future saplings, etc. I'd like to plant another bareroot sapling in this area but not at the cost of the tree. Any thoughts/ideas? Many thanks The Ranger Magness and Potomac varieties are fireblight resistant. There may be more. Two of my three favorite apples (Enterprise and Liberty) are resistant as well. |
#3
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Pear Tree Death
Spraying will work on un-infected trees IF you can get every blossom on
the tree at just the right time of opening----I haven't been able to do that. Pruning will prolong the life of the tree somewhat but the best pruning cut, as stated in someone else's post, was the one two inches above the ground. It's really bad here in Oklahoma, I've lost several trees to it in the last couple of years. By the way----sorry for the virus-bacteria switch in my previous post. Bill Nick Maclaren wrote: In article , "The Ranger" writes: | | Damn. That's what I was afraid of; not much can be done because of the level | of damage and how long I let it spread. I could probably excavate a large | portion of the dirt that is currently in the area but that doesn't even | sound like a "sure thing." | | Maybe a non-pome sapling is more appropriate now... That's the safest solution. But don't take all of the dire warnings as certain - it is a very unpredictable disease and plants often don't get it or get it and recover. Bordeaux mixture helps. I get the impression it is more serious in the USA than the UK, even on the same plants, but I have no idea why. Regards, Nick Maclaren, University of Cambridge Computing Service, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. Email: Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679 |
#4
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Pear Tree Death
I am going to pass along the treatment for fire blight from Howard Garretts
most recent book"Howard Garretts's Texas Tress" ISBN 0-89123-076-9 pg. 234 "This is a bacterial disease of plants in the rose family in which blossoms, new shoots, twigs, and limbs die back as though they have been burned. Leaves usually remain attached but often turn black or dark brown. Prune back into the healthy tissue and disinfect the pruning tools with a 3-5% solution of hydrogen peroxide. Spray the plants at the first sign of disease with Garrett Juice plus garlic and neem. Consan 20 and agricultural streptomycin are also effective controls. Kocide 101 is a copper-based fungicide often recommended. The best recommendation is to spray Garrett Juice plus garlic, treat the soil with horticultural cornmeal, apply the sick tree treatment, and reduce the nitrogen fertilizer. High nitrogen, synthetic fertilizers are the primary cause of this disease." It's easy to get the formulas for Garrett Juice and the sick tree treatment from his website www.dirtcoctor.com free. I'm in no way affiliated with Howard, (other than being a student) just passing along the information. Tom "Bill Bolle" wrote in message ... In my experience, once you get fire-blight you have it forever. It's a virus and will hit almost all members of the rose family, which apples and pears are members of. Your only hope is getting blight resistant varieties of these trees and I think that they are only resistant and not immune. Treatment of infected trees is with antibiotics and out of the skill of the home orchardist. If someone has better and more hopeful information I sure would like to hear from them. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. Bill The Ranger wrote: My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- so says the nursery I brought some of the curled leaves and dried twigs to for examination. He labeled the problem, fire blight. He, unfortunately, was unable to provide much of anything else in the way of help, though, like aside from removing the dead tree, how much of the soil should remain behind, how should I go about preparing the soil for another sapling, how long I should allow the ground to remain free of any future saplings, etc. I'd like to plant another bareroot sapling in this area but not at the cost of the tree. Any thoughts/ideas? Many thanks The Ranger -- Visit http://www.whatchadoin.com/Cookbook2002/index.html to get your copy of the rfc cook.book. Time to order will close 31/1/03. |
#5
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Pear Tree Death
I have five pear trees. Two had fireblight last year.
Fireblight is a common problem with pears. There are really not any sprays available to the home gardener that are effective. If you catch it early, you can prune it out, which is what I did. The trees are fine now. There are various techniques for ongoing management, including continued close surveillance of the orchard to catch the disease when it comes again, and preventing conditions such as rapid growth and waterspouts that tend to make the trees more susceptible. Orchard sanitation, that is the burning or burying of any unwanted branches or fruit, is also important. This is called removing sources of inoculum. You also should get rid of any ornamental flowering pears with a rat-tail blooming habit, that is, the ones that bloom all summer. These are extraordinarily susceptible to the disease and will tend to pass it along to other trees. Many commercial orchards spray streptomycin or other antibiotics to control it. Streptomycin is not available to the home gardener. The other sprays and organic concoctions out there are of doubtful effectiveness. Fireblight is a bacterial disease spread by the wind and by insects and birds. You really can't ever expect to get it completely out of your orchard. It is not a soil borne disease so it is not necessary to remove the soil. Even non-resistant apples are much less susceptible to fireblight than pears. You would probably have better luck with apples. Hope this helps. Sam "The Ranger" wrote in message ... My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- so says the nursery I brought some of the curled leaves and dried twigs to for examination. He labeled the problem, fire blight. He, unfortunately, was unable to provide much of anything else in the way of help, though, like aside from removing the dead tree, how much of the soil should remain behind, how should I go about preparing the soil for another sapling, how long I should allow the ground to remain free of any future saplings, etc. I'd like to plant another bareroot sapling in this area but not at the cost of the tree. Any thoughts/ideas? Many thanks The Ranger -- Visit http://www.whatchadoin.com/Cookbook2002/index.html to get your copy of the rfc cook.book. Time to order will close 31/1/03. |
#6
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Pear Tree Death
Magness is a fabulous tasting pear, as well. I don't grow them, but a local
orchard does. Apparently they don't crop heavily and reliably each and every year here (not sure why, perhaps they bloom on the early side and get hit by frost some years?), so they don't always have them for sale, but when they do.....the taste is incomparable, buttery and smooth, rich and sweet, lots of subtle taste notes. You could also check into Asian pears; I believe they have better fire blight resistance than bartlett types. I've grown three of them for over a dozen years now, and they are very trouble free trees. The fruit is juicy and crisp, somewhat like an apple, and the taste is like a pear, very sweet and delicious. Good luck with whatever you plant next, Sue Zone 6, Southcentral PA Magness and Potomac varieties are fireblight resistant. There may be more. Two of my three favorite apples (Enterprise and Liberty) are resistant as well. |
#7
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Pear Tree Death
I had an apple tree in Colorado that suffered from "fire Blight" Part of a
limb would die and turm black. It there was an apple on the affected limb, it would also die and turn black. I had someone look at it who was supposed to be knowledgeable about that sort of stuff and he said that I should have pruned all the dead wood out of the tree. He indicated that the fire blight entered the tree in areas that were dead. I dont know if he was right or not, but if he was, a good pruning would be another way to help beat the problem. Good luck Dwayne "The Ranger" wrote in message ... My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- so says the nursery I brought some of the curled leaves and dried twigs to for examination. He labeled the problem, fire blight. He, unfortunately, was unable to provide much of anything else in the way of help, though, like aside from removing the dead tree, how much of the soil should remain behind, how should I go about preparing the soil for another sapling, how long I should allow the ground to remain free of any future saplings, etc. I'd like to plant another bareroot sapling in this area but not at the cost of the tree. Any thoughts/ideas? Many thanks The Ranger -- Visit http://www.whatchadoin.com/Cookbook2002/index.html to get your copy of the rfc cook.book. Time to order will close 31/1/03. |
#8
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Pear Tree Death
The Ranger wrote: My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- so says the nursery I brought some of the curled leaves and dried twigs to for examination. He labeled the problem, fire blight. He, unfortunately, was unable to provide much of anything else in the way of help, though, like aside from removing the dead tree, how much of the soil should remain behind, how should I go about preparing the soil for another sapling, how long I should allow the ground to remain free of any future saplings, etc. I'd like to plant another bareroot sapling in this area but not at the cost of the tree. Any thoughts/ideas? Many thanks The Ranger I don't *think* you have to worry about the soil; fireblight is a bacteria that is often spread via cut surfaces when pruning, and I think maybe by flies to the flowers. You should plant a fireblight resistant variety. Be very careful about sanitaion when you prune; prune when the weather is not damp, and dip the shears in a bleach solution between every cut. Remove any fireblight infected growth next time (and burn it) and spray the tree with a bacteriacide like Consan Triple Action 20 (quaternary ammonia). I believe it can also be treated with a spraying of agricultural grade streptomycin. It might be a good idea to spray healthy trees with Consan during damp spring weather as a preventative. If you have a Fleet Farm store nearby, the "Steramine" dairy cleaner and udder wash is the same thing as Consan, but 1/2 the strength, and it's cheap. I can get you the dilution rates for spraying to prevent fireblight on apples and blackspot on roses, but I don't have it handy. Don't replant with "Bartlett". Best regards, Bob |
#9
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Pear Tree Death
zxcvbob helpfully posted:
My pear tree died a very painful and messy death -- [..] Any thoughts/ideas? I don't *think* you have to worry about the soil; fireblight is a bacteria that is often spread via cut surfaces when pruning, and I think maybe by flies to the flowers. You should plant a fireblight resistant variety. Be very careful about sanitaion when you prune; prune when the weather is not damp, and dip the shears in a bleach solution between every cut. I wasn't judicious enough in my attempts at pruning when I first spotted the problem areas, which led to the trunk eventually contracting the problem. Such a waste; it was a damned fine [regular] producer! I harvested enough fruit from its bowing branches the last two years that even my neighbors got a chance at enjoying my patience. This is good to know, though, because I have a dozen roses planted around the front and backyards to make me wary and watchful. Remove any fireblight infected growth next time (and burn it) That's not possible where I live. [snip] If you have a Fleet Farm store nearby, I don't but I do have a domestic animal supply house within range that will be able to get me the product you mention below. That shouldn't be a problem at all. the "Steramine" dairy cleaner and udder wash [..] Don't replant with "Bartlett". The last was Anjou. sigh As I said, such a waste... The Ranger PS: Thank you to all the posters. It has been a good lesson and the learning curve wasn't as significant as I feared. |
#10
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Pear Tree Death
"The Ranger"
Go to any of the cooperative extension websites in states that grow a good bit of tree fruits and do some homework. A single pruning cut low to the ground would be my likely choice unless it was some rare and valuble stock. |
#11
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Pear Tree Death
Fire blight is not a soil-borne bacteria. It can be effectivley controlled on
smaller trees by using agri-mycin 17, which is basically an antibiotic for plants. This product is readily available, at least at most of the nurseries I have visited. You arent going to get 100% control, but you can prevent a good deal of infection using it. You can also use any number of copper containing fungicides to help control fire blight, but the agri-mycin works the best. You can get information about this on the web, there have been a number of fairly successful trials in different areas of the country, mainly on pears. Of course, planting resistant varieties is always a good idea as well. Toad |
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