Fireblight

[Taylog1]

A couple of my trees, right next to the river, were absolutely covered in blossom this year - then they all turned brown and died, none set. Now I’m getting the leaves on the ends of just some branches going brown and dying - looking online it looks like fireblight.  Pruning tomorrow to try and see what I can save but my question is - given that 100% of the blossoms went brown and died (and no set) does it mean that the bacteria is likely in all of the tree and thus in due course I’m going to see dieback on all branches ?

[Jeremy Hall]

While fireblight typically shows up in the young shoot growth first-- blackening the tips of twigs and curling them down in the telltale shepherd's crook shape, I have seen fireblight show up in a very similar way you describe when the tree has been infected with fireblight the previous year. If you had a warm spring during bloom, this definitely could be a complete kill from fireblight.

Look for branch bark is dark and shriveled. Take a knife and skin the bark off an impacted branch and look for dark brown or even black cambium. If you've got those signs, it is almost certainly fireblight and those trees are lost. I'd cut them to the ground and get the wood out of your orchard before it spreads to healthy trees. Burn the wood right away or otherwise dispose it-- fireblight can spread from cut branches because insects are attracted to the discharge and when they land on healthy trees the bacteria can take hold.

On Fri, May 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM Taylog1 <g...@3-1415.com> wrote:

A couple of my trees, right next to the river, were absolutely covered in blossom this year - then they all turned brown and died, none set. Now I’m getting the leaves on the ends of just some branches going brown and dying - looking online it looks like fireblight.  Pruning tomorrow to try and see what I can save but my question is - given that 100% of the blossoms went brown and died (and no set) does it mean that the bacteria is likely in all of the tree and thus in due course I’m going to see dieback on all branches ?

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[Taylog1]

Thanks.  There were some blackened leaves at the ends of some shoots - spent a few hours yesterday cutting them all back (with sterilised tools), but whilst they looked very much like fireblight, scraping the bark back didn’t show discolouration underneath.  As we’ve had the sunniest spring for many years and these trees are next to a stream fireblight seems the most likely, even absent the staining (and no dripping sap).  We’ll see what happens over the next few weeks, I’m expecting more damage and having to rip it up, but we’ll see.

[Taylog1]

Having read further the other possibility appears to be blossom wilt. NIAB does suggest that this is usually characterised by striping on branches, but also points out that on cider apples often the only symptom is dead blossoms as the disease does not always progress onto the spur, and in these case visual diagnosis (between blossom wilt and fireblight) is difficult.  Time will tell.

[Stephen Laverack]

Are you sure it isn't frost damage. The trees by the river might be in a frost pocket. 

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[Gareth]

Thanks - that was my first thought but we’ve not had any frost down here for quite a while. 

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On 26 May 2025, at 12:28, Stephen Laverack <sg.la...@gmail.com> wrote:



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