Author Archives: Kent Higgins

Fire-blight is a bacterial disease that attacks a number of different woody plants in the apple family. Affected are apple, crabapple, pear, mountain ash, hawthorn and cotoneaster, to name a few. The disease is often spread by bees during pollination. It can be carried by moisture and may spread to other trees or parts of trees through splashing rains. New growth seems most susceptible.

In general, pears are the most susceptible plants to this disease. The most evident symptom of fire-blight is the blackened or browned stems and leaves of new growth at the tips of the branches; infected flower clusters or partly developed fruit will appear similarly scorched as though seared by a blowtorch. When the disease enters older wood, infected parts look sunken, wrinkled, and when cut appear brown and dead. The sunken tissues are known as cankers. Once the disease enters the main trunks of trees, there is little that can be done to control it.