Apple Tree Issues - Is This Fire Blight??

Broke Down Ranch

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Jun 30, 2008
Messages
800
Reaction score
2
Points
108
Location
Central Texas
I planted 2 Mollies Delicious apple trees this year. The bigger of the 2 bloomed then promptly died. the smaller one leafed out, developed new growth and now is starting to show signs of "something" going on. I took pics of the leaves to see if someone could help me figure out what I should do before I lose this tree too....

IMG_2067.jpg


IMG_2068.jpg


IMG_2069.jpg


IMG_2070.jpg


IMG_2071.jpg


IMG_2072.jpg


IMG_2073.jpg
 

Rosalind

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
816
Reaction score
1
Points
109
Location
Massachusetts, zone 7a
Looks like fire blight, but does not look very serious. There are several sprays that are supposed to be for fire blight, but AFAIK none of them have ever been proven to actually work--the infection starts when the plant puts out new growth & flowers in spring/summer during an exceptionally rainy stretch of weather, when there isn't a whole lot of sun or wind, and when the wet weather would effectively wash off most any type of spray.

As I said, doesn't look too serious. You could probably yank off the infected leaves, be patient and hope for the best next year. And plant another tree that is known to be fire blight resistant. I had one tree, a Westfield Seek-no-further, that got et by deer thrice over and then when it tried to come back it came down with fire blight. I thought for sure it was a goner, but it did well this year and has lots of nice leaves, some good-looking new branches. If you get a resistant cross-pollinator in now, it'll be established in time for next spring.
 

journey11

Garden Master
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
8,470
Reaction score
4,228
Points
397
Location
WV, Zone 6B
Top