Fire Blight in Apples: Managing Visible Blossom and Shoot Blight
Channel: UVM Fruit Program
Date: 2020-06-18

Fire blight is a potentially devastating bacterial disease of apples and pears. It is best managed through a long-term, holistic process involving selection of resistant rootstocks and cultivars; appropriate nitrogen management; sanitation via winter pruning; spring application of copper; bloomtime antibiotic treatment; and pruning out of infected tissue in summer. In this clip, Dr. Terence Bradshaw from the University of Vermont shows proper removal of infected fire blight tissue from an infected orchard and discusses general management considerations for the disease. 

More information: Cooley, D., Autio, W., Clements, J. Cowgill, W., and Spitko, R. An Annual Fire Blight Management Program for Apples. UMASS Rutgers Fact Sheet F-133. https://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/fact-sheets/pdf/f-133.pdf 

http://www.uvm.edu/~fruit/