Introduction
Fire blight disease is usually seen in the members of the Rosaceae plant family like strawberries, figs, roses, shrubs, and other trees like pears and apples. This disease wreaks havoc on the plants by clogging up plant tissues and blocking the flow of nutrients and water. If any of your plants have this disease you may search for “tree service near me” and hire professionals near you to get it fixed. Let’s check out how you can fight fire blights with pruning and treatments:
The Treatments
Identify fire blight – Before you can treat the disease you need to know the symptoms and identify them. Fortunately, fire blight isn’t a silent killer. The symptoms are very apparent all over the tree. You can notice the symptoms on the limbs, branches, stems, fruits, and even on the visible portion of the rootstock.
Symptoms on the blossoms can appear within a week or two of the petal fall. The remaining parts of the flower start to lose color and look wet. They turn from grayish-green to brown. After that, the tissues may start shriveling up and begin to turn black or dark brown. You’ll see similar symptoms at the base of the flower and on new fruits. If you live in a humid climate, you’ll also see puss-like bacterial ooze coming out of the fruits.
If the shoots get infected, you’ll see similar symptoms. However, the symptoms will spread much faster. The tips would start wilting and the leaves of the shoots turn black along the veins and the midrib. The tree would also start looking blighted or burnt when several shots are affected.
This disease is mainly identifiable by water-soaked spots that are dark and droopy. You can also find signs of infection on the rootstocks. They turn purple to black and look like they are water-soaked. If left unchecked, the bark on those areas gets cracked and bacterial ooze comes out from it.
Prevent fire blight – Fire blight can cause tremendous loss of your plants, crops, and trees. However, you can avoid this disease by adopting certain measures. Let’s check them out so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs.
If you have apple trees, making them completely immune to the disease is impossible. However, you can find species that are moderately resistant to the disease. If you like to grow pears you’re out of luck since pear has very few varieties on the market. That’s why it’s best to look around the market and choose resistant varieties before you plant them in the soil.
Your plants are also more prone to fire blight when you feed excess water and fertilizer to your plants. With excess fertilizer, the plant overdoses with nitrogen and that make them less resistant to fire blights. That’s why you should be very careful about the amount of fertilizer and water that goes into the soil. When you water your plants, you also need to account for rainfall so that you can figure out the total amount of water that is absorbed by the plants.
When you use gardening tools make sure to use them with care and not injure the trees. Mechanical injuries will increase the risk of secondary infection. When you need to get rid of psylla and other plant bugs make sure to not use limb spreaders. You should also avoid irritating your plants with overhead sprinklers. These can lead to secondary infection.
When you water your plants do it at the base of the tree instead of pouring or blasting water over the branches and the leaves. When you splash water on the foliage and branches you accelerate the damp conditions that may lead to fire blight. Moreover, you waste water when you blast it on the foliage. Leaves and branches can’t absorb water. Only the roots can. When excess water rests on the branches the hot sun can cause sunscald and leave permanent damage.
Treat fire blight – Pruning is one of the best ways to treat fire blight. When your trees go dormant during the winter season make sure to prune twigs and branches that show fire blight symptoms. Make sure to leave a gap of at least four to six inches from the cracks and signs of symptoms before you make the cuts.
You can also prune during the summer to bring a fire blight outbreak under control. However, make sure to leave a foot gap from the symptoms before you make the cut. Since the tree is very active during the summer season avoid making large cuts or cutting off large branches that would leave giant wounds. Wounds become entry points for the fire blight and damage the tree even more.
While you prune the tree, make sure to cover the ground with a tarp and reduce secondary infection as much as possible. After you’re done pruning the tree, collect all the twigs, branches, and leaves of the plant and burn them down. It’s tempting to add that brown matter to your compost bin. However, you should avoid it to stop the spread of infection. Make sure to clean and sterilize the garden tools thoroughly after you’re done pruning or taking care of a plant with fire blight.
If the fire blight outbreak is too severe you may take drastic measures to slow down the growth of the tree. This helps to slow down the spread of the cankers and the disease throughout the plant. You can start by limiting the amount of water and nitrogen fertilizers you feed to the plant. This is the last option and should only be used when the plant is severely diseased.
Conclusion
Now that you know all about the fire blight disease you should take all the measures to protect your trees and plants from it. Even if your plants get the diseases, pruning and treatment can help to alleviate the situation. Otherwise, you can get help from professionals by searching for “tree service near me”.
