So much for my thinking fireblight wouldn't be too much of a problem here because of our low humidity.

Advice on how to handle it?

This morning I was walking in my orchard and I saw one graft that had bad apple scab while everything around it was clean. I got out my pruning saw right then and removed the graft. Varieties like that spread the diseases, you need to nip them in the bud.

Scott

I agree as mentioned above that some varieties are more
susceptible to fireblight. What is not mentioned is that
rootstock sometimes plays an important part too.

Some rootstocks are more frreblight susceptible. When used with a variety that is very susceptible too, the chance
of fireblight can increase.

Several years ago a friend showed me a certain apple variety in his orchard. He planted two rows on M7 but his
supplier could not supply more. To finish the block he purchased the balance of that variety on M26.

The spring I visited, fireblight struck and the 2 rows on M26 were wiped out. The same variety on M7 right next to them was clean of fireblight.

My observation is that when planting a highly blight susceptible variety, avoid planting on a highly susceptible
rootstock. This might be of help some of the time when
growing a susceptible variety.

I will have to think on what you said about disease resistant cultivars. I notice that you have Newton Pippin in your list. I think I will keep trying with it and LEARN TO SPRAY IN THE SPRING! I have been too lazy it seems.

I'm going to order Serenade and Ferti-Lome Fire Blight Spray. If it saves my trees then it's worth it.

Spartan,

I have M.7, G.16, G.11, and G.11/MM.111, I will steer clear of of M.26.

I believe the problem with FB and rootstocks is not that it brings it to the cultivar but that once a cultivar has it the rootstock can be killed. It starts at the flowers or shoots, after all.

After reading the line: "Finally, even when no blossom blight occurs, damaging epidemics of shoot blight can develop and hail storms can trigger severe outbreaks"

I wonder if MHG's hail damage started some of her fire blight problems?

After reading the article I feel I understand the disease much better. I also understand why fire blight has never been an issue before but is now. We had a heavy rainy season last year where a depression held the clouds over the front range for weeks, if I recall correctly. These rains brought about devastating flooding which have been labeled in the "1000 year flood" severity. I had no idea that last years rains had any impact on this years trees.

Has anyone used the Maryblyt program mentioned?

I'm managing about 100 sites with anywhere from 5 to 500 trees and in the years I've been doing it I've lost about 4 pear trees the whole time. Apples have never gotten it bad enough to even cost a scaffold branch. Pears half the time recover and half the time have died.

I don't leave stubs, just prune out the entire blighted shoot, at my convenience, because the problem isn't that serious here.

I have a question for future reference. I bought both Streptomyces lydicus and Streptomycin Sulfate. Would not the Streptomycin Sulfate kill off the Streptomyces lydicus if used in conjunction with each other? I believe both products said they could be added to other sprays, but it I am questioning this.