Fireblight.....

TreeDaddy

5 year old buck +
........is of the devil and has run amok in this hot,humid, and rainy( for east texas),spring

Liberty,enterprise, and goldrush apples doing well as are dolgo crabs

Keiffer pears demolished as are most varieties

Any southern fellows know of other varieties that seem resistant?

thanks

bill
 
Got a little black lead or two on my kieffer pear here in NY. Been wet, Been wanting to spray for aphids for almost 2 weeks. Raining every day though.

Here's a list from cornell https://blogs.cornell.edu/applevarietydatabase/disease-susceptibility-of-common-apples/

Fireblight isn't a big of a probem here in NY as in Texas. However, if you have regular access to your property it seems watering your trees during drought times helps alot. I put some 2.5 gal water jugs with a 1/8" hoe and rock in it, seems to water better than hosing it. Some like it, some hate it. But when it's dry, the tree needs water. When water is low, nutrients are low. I add a mild dose of miracle grow when things are particularly dry by me.

Freedom is a overall very resistant tree. Perhaps one of the most resistant overall on any variety. Grows up to zone 7. Might need more though.

Orange pippin, has a good tree selector catalog program. Went with high resistant to fireblght and zone 8, king david came up. Moderatly resistant added alot of varieties like sundance, triumph, freedom, enteprise, arkansas black. Zone rating doesn't always tell the story. For us northeast folk, the tree will grow, but apples might not make peak maturtiy / flavor. In your case in texas, got to keep an eye out for chill hours. There's a hormone that the tree uses to determine if winter is over. If you do not have enough cold days, certain trees may not flower at all, or well. Even though it says your ok in your zone.


When I think I want a certain tree, I look up what cummins nursery has to say about it. Seems to have the most complete info about a variety.

I am doing pretty well with what I have at my zone 5 home. But, 2 trees I want you might be interested in NY 414-1 and Sundance. Sundance is talked out alot on here, disease resistant version of goldrush. Although goldrush issue I beleive is cedar apple rust, so goldrush might work for you. NY 414-1 is a cross between liberty and macoun. Family loves macouns, thats why I want it. Sundance / goldrush is well liked o this site. Bonkers might be a good one for you too, cross between red delicious and liberty. honeycrisp could be one for you too.

 
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Bill, the following are highly resistant to fireblight for me:

Myers Royal Limbertwig
Black Limbertwig
Bevan's Favorite
Yates
Sundance
Priscilla
Grimes Golden - only 2 years fruiting
Liberty
WG Dolgo
Eliza’s Choice
Big Dog Crab - only 2 years fruiting
 
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In the south, Apple and pear trees are the devil. Work your butt off for nothing most of the time.
 
Bill, the following are highly resistant to fireblight for me:

Myers Royal Limbertwig
Black Limbertwig
Yates
Sundance
Priscilla
Grimes Golden - only 2 years fruiting
Liberty
WG Dolgo
Eliza’s Choice
Bug Dog Crab - only 2 years fruiting
Just so there's no confusion, I think you mean Big Dog Crab, correct?
 

I hate to say it - but leaf related issues have not been much problem for me. I picked most of my varieties from the above link.

Muscadines have been more prolific for me - with less trouble - than any apple, pear, peach, plum, fig, or nectarine.
 

I hate to say it - but leaf related issues have not been much problem for me. I picked most of my varieties from the above link.

Muscadines have been more prolific for me - with less trouble - than any apple, pear, peach, plum, fig, or nectarine.
Thanks for the link

Their website is very informative

bill
 
........is of the devil and has run amok in this hot,humid, and rainy( for east texas),spring

Liberty,enterprise, and goldrush apples doing well as are dolgo crabs

Keiffer pears demolished as are most varieties

Any southern fellows know of other varieties that seem resistant?

thanks

bill

So what are you going to do? Remove the tree?

I fought it about 10 years ago did everything you could think of to save the trees including cutting some clear back to the trunk and then grafting to save a large trunk and roots.

Ultimately, I didn’t save any of them by the three year mark.

I have two pears with it now, or at least I think that is what it is. I have not looked closely but know of nothing else that can cause them to turn black like that. I think I will just remove those trees and not risk the apples in the area.


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Might want to investigate rootstocks as well as the grafted tree too.

Looked at that NC farm list, turkey creek has alot of those varieties.
 
So what are you going to do? Remove the tree?

I fought it about 10 years ago did everything you could think of to save the trees including cutting some clear back to the trunk and then grafting to save a large trunk and roots.

Ultimately, I didn’t save any of them by the three year mark.

I have two pears with it now, or at least I think that is what it is. I have not looked closely but know of nothing else that can cause them to turn black like that. I think I will just remove those trees and not risk the apples in the area.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I fought it in the same manner with identical result which prompted my search

bill
 
I also fought it , always much worse in my pear trees for a few years . The fireblight has always been manageable with my apple trees , but most of my pear trees slowly became eaten up with it . Last year i cut every sinle pear tree down , around 20- some trees . I had at least 10 Kieffer pear trees that were at least 15 years old and great producers . They all got to the point where they were consumed with fireblight . Im glad that all the pear trees are now gone .
Im in central Virginia .
 
Probably no pears - or apples for that matter - that are immune to fireblight... some just more resilient/tolerant than others.
Kieffer is, one of the most resilient of them all. Most other 'Southern' pears - which are often Sand pear (P.serotina) hybrids - like Orient, Pineapple, Carrick, LeConte, etc., but there are some like Southern Bartlett (probably not related to 'Bartlett' in any way), Tenn, Golden Boy, Warren that are pure, or near pure Euoro (P.communis).

Kieffer... is a mainstay on farmsteads across The South and lower Midwest... mature Kieffers can take multiple FB hits, arrest them, shrug them off, and keep right on bearing heavily enough to break limbs. I see ancient old Kieffer trees all over the place, here - often with multiple black 'shepherd's crook' branches throughout the canopy... with heavy fruit loads.
There was a huge old Kieffer tree at the edge of the garden at my grandparents' home near Auburn AL... so big around that I couldn't reach around the trunk... which was hollow, and finally went down in a storm. But... the canopy would be filled with multiple FB strikes every year... which did not keep it from rocking right along, producing tons of fruit.

Are you folks who seemingly can't grow it fertilizing heavily? I have NEVER fertilized a fruit tree... makes for too much tender, vigorous growth which is susceptible to injury... at the expense of fruiting.

Just my experience. YMMV
 
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