Any experiences with "Fire Blight Spray"?

Hi everybody,

there is a special spray by ferti lome against fire blight.

The instructions say:

Controls: Fire blight on Crabapples, Pears, Pyracantha, Chrysanthemums, Rhododendrons, Dieffenbachia and Roses. Application Rate: 1 tablespoon per 2-1/2 gallons when tree starts flowering in spring.

I just wonder if this realy works or if it's more or less like a placebo.
Has anybody got experiences with it?
If it works does it only work preventive or does it also work on actual affection?

Thanks for your replies!
Best wishes

Max

Hi Max,

Fire blight on an apple is nasty stuff, infected twigs need to be removed and burned, And you must keep up on your spraying according to the manufacturers recommendations. Welcome to the wonderful world of fruit trees.
-Jay

Hi Jay,
thanks for your reply.

Actually fire blight is caused by a bacteria not by a fungus.
Streptomycin which is main ingredient of the spray is a special antibacterial.

Luckily I don't have any tree with such deseases so far but who knows if one day..
so I have a collection of working medicines for most cases.
And because fire blight is a very problematic illness I prefer to know as much as possible about and against it.
Untill I found this spray on the net (which is usually forbidden in Germany...) I did not know anything possibly working against fire blight.
That's why I post here and would like to know about experiences with the spray and about it's worth.

Thanks a lot!
Best wishes
Max

Fire blight is a bacterial disease. In regions where it is prevalent, the only sure way to control it is to grow resistant varieties. You could try a bottle & see how effective it is. How efficient is your country's Agriculture Department? Would they allow the marketing of an ineffective chemical?
Iris

I don't think it is such a hot idea to stockpile sprays in case some day you might need them. A spray like streptomycin would probably lose its effectiveness after a year or so.
Is fire blight prevalent in your neighborhood?
Iris

Hi Iris,

thanks for your reply.
Well, it's not because of my neighborhood but because I often get new trees or swap trees. I controll them but nobody is perfect.
So if it happens that one tree has got fire blight I can still prevent the others if this spray realy works.

You're right for sure it's got a date of expiry. So I would replace it from time to time. This is still better than loosing any tree.
Besides this spray is quite cheap.

Once more thank you very much.

Best wishes
Max

Oops forgive me, it is indeed bacterial. I've got fungus on the brain as I just had to spray my Pomegranate for cercospora and downey mildew yesterday , sorry about that Max. Iris, as always, knows her stuff.
-Jay

I most definitely would advise against spraying with any kind of antibiotic (antibacterial) spray. Too many antibiotics are being loosed into the environment these days, and too many critters -- insects, bacteria, etc. -- mutate so readily that they develop almost immediate immunity. That is bad for human health (witness the growing risk of infection in hospitals by evolved bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics).

As an elderly 'gentleman' with ailments that have damaged my immune system, I am a tad sensitized to this issue. And even you kids are endangered by these kinds of unthinking activities. After all, the bug-spray companies don't give a damn about anything but selling product.

If you get fireblight, remove it surgically and consider it a design challenge. Better yet, as Iris says, use resistant varieties.

Sorry Jim,
but I see it very differently!

JimLewis wrote:I most definitely would advise against spraying with any kind of antibiotic (antibacterial) spray. Too many antibiotics are being loosed into the environment these days, and too many critters -- insects, bacteria, etc. -- mutate so readily that they develop almost immediate immunity.

If you never use antibiotics they can't work at all! So you have to decide in each case wether you use it or not.
Bonsai is not affecting huge areas and as any ill tree will be seperated there should be no big issue about arising immunity.
Certainly one has to protect himself from any chemicals!

JimLewis wrote:endangered by these kinds of unthinking activities.

Of course I don't do everything for a tree but as much as is possible and suitable in my opinion.
That's why I started this thread and wanted to figure out about this spray.

JimLewis wrote:If you get fireblight, remove it surgically and consider it a design challenge.

Indeed if any tree has fireblight and you don't try to heal it, there is a need to burn it completely to almost guarantee it's not passing to other trees. It's not possible to safely cut fireblight out!.. (There are some famous cases of apple plantations where it was tried to cut the fireblight out. In the end there was nothing left but roots!)

JimLewis wrote:Better yet, as Iris says, use resistant varieties.

I am realy sorry, but this is rediculous. Or do you know where to get resistant but good quality trees of any Malus, any Pyrus, any Cydonia, any Mespilus, any Sorbus, any Amelanchier, any Aronia, any Chaenomeles, any Crataegus, any Pyracantha, any Eriobotrya, any Cotoneaster, any Photinia? I don't and I will not give all my trees of these away because of fireblight. Why should I?

Anyway. If anybody has experience with this spray please let me know.

best wishes
Max

drgonzo wrote:Oops forgive me, it is indeed bacterial. I've got fungus on the brain as I just had to spray my Pomegranate for cercospora and downey mildew yesterday , sorry about that Max. Iris, as always, knows her stuff.
-Jay

Good luck with your pomegranate!

I have heard good things about this product but haqve no personal experience. Its active ingredient is Streptomycin Sulfate just what the doctor called for. It maybe that you will have to treat the tree every year just as I do with junipers that have cedar apple rust(with a different medicine). It never seems to go away but it is controlled.

crust wrote:I have heard good things about this product but haqve no personal experience. Its active ingredient is Streptomycin Sulfate just what the doctor called for. It maybe that you will have to treat the tree every year just as I do with junipers that have cedar apple rust(with a different medicine). It never seems to go away but it is controlled.

Crust, thank you very much for your info!