Fire Blight Is A Common Disease For Roses, Pears and Apples
Fire blight is a common and potentially fatal disease among trees in the rose family, especially pears and apples. It is caused by the bacteria Erwinia amylovora. Once a tree is infected, it is nearly impossible to eliminate. However, it can be kept under control using organic methods to prevent the disease from spreading and killing the tree.

The Impact of Fire Blight on Orchards
Fire blight is a destructive bacterial disease caused by Erwinia amylovora, which severely affects fruit trees like apple and pear trees. The fire blight bacterium spreads rapidly during the bloom period, especially in humid weather, leading to symptoms like water-soaked blossoms, blighted twigs, and the characteristic "shepherd's crook" in infected shoots.
Effective fire blight management includes pruning infected branches, using copper fungicides during early spring, and selecting fire blight-resistant trees to reduce the risk of infection. To prevent fire blight, it’s essential to avoid heavy pruning, control sucking insects, and be cautious of excessive nitrogen fertilization, which can increase susceptibility.
Fire Blight Symptoms and Causes
Is Your Tree Infected?
Fire blight is named for the scorched appearance of infected leaves and branches. Depending on the severity of the infection, leaves can be patchy with dead spots, or entire sections of new growth and even whole limbs can be killed off. Affected branches often curl back in a “shepherd’s crook” or J-shape.
Prevention Is the Best Medicine
Keeping your trees healthy in the first place is the best solution when it comes to fire blight. Good management begins before you even plant your trees. Select varieties that are resistant to fire blight, such as Seckel, Potomac and Warren pears, Hosui Asian pears, and Cox Orange Pippin apples.
The Mechanical Solution For Fire Blight
If your tree becomes infected with fire blight, there are several courses of treatment recommended by the University of California Cooperative Extension. The most important of these is mechanical disease control with pruning.
Treating Your Trees
Serenade Optimum is one of the fire blight treatments recommended by Oregon State University. It is applied in specific bloom stages to help prevent bacterial infections.
Monitoring and Early Detection
Regular inspections of trees are crucial for effective fire blight management. Monitoring for signs of fire blight helps in timely intervention to prevent further spread.
Conclusion
Effectively managing fire blight requires a comprehensive approach that integrates both proactive and reactive strategies. By selecting resistant tree varieties, practicing vigilant monitoring, and employing organic treatments such as neem oil and copper fungicides, growers can significantly reduce the impact of this destructive bacterial disease. Learn more about fire blight tracking and prediction in our detailed fire blight prediction guide.
21 comments
Edward, I could not recommend any types of treatments like you are talking about. I would be very hesitant to put vinegar on a tree, it might do more harm than good.
Heard that a mix of 4 parts vinegar to 6 parts water immediately after pruning away the infected branches and again 2 weeks later is effective on pear trees.
Is this an old wife’s tale or is this treatment good.
Paul, I would pick them up and put them into your garbage. Do not put them into your compost bin. I would always side with more caution when it comes to fire blight.
Will apples from an infected fire blight tree, that fall to the ground transfer the fire blight to the soils?
In reply to Eric (comment posted April 30, 2020): apples do not come true to type when grown from seed. You need to clone the tree by taking a cutting and grafting it to a suitable rootstock. Check out this method of propogation in any decent source on growing fruit trees.
I would think that if you could take the cutting from a part of the tree that isn’t showing any signs of fireblight, then there is a good chance you could grow a replacement. Keep it well away from the infected parent tree. If the cutting does have fireblight then it would probably die quickly.