Managing Fire Blight in 2021
Mike Basedow, Tree Fruit Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
2020 fire blight season recap. In 2020, there were devastating fire blight outbreaks in NY and much of New England. The season was characterized by hot dry weather from the end of bloom into petal fall, which were the perfect conditions for systemic shoot blight. In the second half of May many sites experienced extreme risk for fire blight when bloom was apparently over and rainfall, dew, and humidity were scarce. Many growers were mystified with the subsequent outbreaks of shoot blight and perplexed as to how blossom infections could occur with the lack of moisture during high-risk periods. This is a common occurrence in the pacific northwest where fire blight devastates apple production despite a dry climate. Indeed, it may take only the slightest bit of internal canopy humidity or water from a nutritional or fungicide application to start an epidemic in exceptionally warm weather. We should remain cautious with vigorous growth during warm weather in the 2021 season, particularly as we approach petal fall and as shoots elongate.
Managing Fire Blight in 2021 (pdf; 219KB)
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