Fire Blight

What to do if you see Fire Blight in commercial apple or pear orchards:

• Leave it alone and if your orchard is hit with a hail storm apply streptomycin within 24 hours.  Injuries to leaves and twigs increases the spread of the disease.
•  Prune out all infections at least 6″ below any visible symptoms during dry weather and wipe pruners with 70% alcohol (do not dip), and refer to the New England Tree Fruit guide for additional management. It is very important to wipe your pruners with disinfectant after each and every cut to avoid spreading the bacteria. Dipping makes you feel good but is not as effective as wiping. . You may want to prune with the ‘ugly cut’ method and remove the reminder of the branch during the dormant season, or flag the cut branch to check for cankers during the dormant season.
• If you have newly planted trees with flowers open they should be covered with streptomycin. Warm, wet weather while flowers are blooming is ideal weather for infections.
• Fire Blight-susceptible pears and apples should receive a streptomycin spray within 24 hours of a hail storm, even if you do not have any Fire Blight in your orchard.
• You may need to remove trees that are loaded with disease – they will likely die anyway.

Home gardeners should prune out the blighted shoots (disinfect pruning tools between each cut with 70% alcohol). There are NO sprays approved for homeowners to use in combating Fire Blight (we do NOT recommend antibiotic spray for home garden use due to the risk of resistance development).