Pear is one of the most common garden trees, which is highly appreciated by gardeners because of the delicious and wholesome fruits. However, this cultivated plant, like all others, is susceptible to various diseases. One of the most formidable is a pear bacterial burn. Treatment can be quite long and not give the proper result, especially if you use universal remedies against bacterial infections. Often, gardeners lose a lot of time on these useless manipulations, and when they understand what they are dealing with, it is too late to save the tree.
What is a bacterial burn
Many gardeners do not know how to recognize this formidable disease, which is why they lose a lot of time, but meanwhile there is less and less chance of saving a tree. Among such ailments, the most dangerous is the pear bacterial burn. Treatment depends on how quickly the correct diagnosis is made, and whether there are other trees in the immediate vicinity that may be infected. Today, experts are making a lot of efforts to find an effective tool to combat it, however, despite this, the disease continues to actively destroy gardens.
The first time a bacterial burn was recorded in the eighteenth century. After about 150 years, the disease spread throughout the continent. Now it is found all over the world, regularly devastating gardens. All ground parts of the plant are affected by a pear bacterial burn. Treatment should be started at the earliest stages, otherwise it may be ineffective.
Symptoms
What does a bacterial burn of fruit crops look like? The process begins in inflorescences and quickly covers the whole tree. There is a defeat of branches and shoots. In spring, you will observe how the disease slows down the opening of the kidneys, which turn black, dry out, but do not fall off, but continue to stay on the branches. If the disease hit the tree at the time of flowering, then the flowers will also darken and fade. Slowly young branches and leaves will begin to blacken, they are bunching, but remain in their place. That is why the disease is called "Antonov fire." The pear stands as if burnt, black, lifeless, but with all the flowers, fruits and leaves.
Further, the infection moves along the trunk. It may already be too late at this stage to ask how to treat a bacterial burn of a pear, however it is worth trying to save the rest of the garden so that other trees do not suffer the same fate. At this stage, one can observe how the crust softens. Drops of milky white appear on it, they are called exudate. The bark around the place of isolation acquires a characteristic pattern, red-brown stains appear on it. Those tissues that are already affected by the infection begin to exfoliate, become covered with blisters. Ulcers form on the tree.
Causes of occurrence
So what causes a pear bacterial burn? Treatment can be successful only when we know exactly what we are dealing with. The causative agent of the infection are bacteria Erwinia amylovora. They spread from a diseased tree to a healthy one, and increased humidity and moderate air temperature are the most favorable factors for the development of infection. However, there is no age framework for the spread of the disease.
Diseases of young pears are as common as the ailments of old fruit trees. The exudate mentioned above forms thin threads that are easily carried downwind. It is he who transfers the causative agents of the disease, which means that the disease quickly affects everything around. The most convenient for the development of infection are flowers, in them it develops and continues its path throughout the tree. That is, spring is the time when the risk of infection is greatest.
Less commonly, the infection enters the plant by rain. Bacteria survive the winter inside the pear, and with the advent of spring they resume their development. By mid-summer, you will see milky-white drops coming out. That is, the cycle repeats again. Very rarely, infection occurs during vaccination or through cropping tools. Infection can also be transmitted by insects, aphids, bees, flies and wasps.
Prevention
To protect the pear from a bacterial burn, you must follow some rules. First of all, you need to maintain cleanliness on the site, to tear out all wild plants. This is especially true for hawthorn, which is often the focus of infection. It is very important to timely process fruit crops, since pests like a tree like a pear. Leaf diseases are not the only disaster they suffer. On their bristles, they can easily bring bacterial burn pathogens into your garden.
Treatment
Experts suggest several methods that can be used to combat this disease. Each of them has been tested countless times and is quite effective. At the same time, they all have their pros and cons, so you need to weigh well the perceived risk and benefit. We offer you three methods that help cure a bacterial burn.
Radical Disease Control Method
If you have a lot of fruit trees growing on the site, and one of them you are witnessing rapidly developing symptoms of the disease, then it is best to get rid of it quickly. So you protect the rest of the garden. Moreover, if the lesion area is less than 30%, then you can try to remove all the affected areas, cut even healthy tissue 20-40 cm below the lesion site. After this, it is imperative to treat the tools with 70% alcohol or 10% copper sulfate.
It is imperative that if you notice signs of a bacterial burn in your garden, remove all wild plants and shrubs, and treat the garden from pests to avoid the further spread of the infection.
Antibiotic treatment
This is the most effective method that is most often recommended by specialists. In order to get rid of this scourge, the most common Streptomycin is used. And the most effective is the use of antibiotics during the growing season. This drug can be bought at a regular veterinary pharmacy, with large bottles of 500 thousand units. very affordable.
For minor lesions, Streptomycin can be used. Dosage - one ampoule per 5 liters, it is enough to process a dozen young trees. The best time for this procedure is May, June. At this time, shoots grow rapidly, and such treatment will be an excellent prevention. Repeat the procedure after 2-3 weeks, as well as after each heavy rain, especially with hail.
It is not recommended to use Streptomycin more than 3 times in a row. Therefore, after several treatments, they switch to immunity stimulants - these are Fitosporin, Immunocytophyte, Silk, Zircon and many other drugs. In addition, for the next treatment, you can take 2 tablets of any tetracycline from a veterinary pharmacy. It should also be dissolved in 5 liters of water.
With severe damage, you can try injections of "Streptomycin" under the cortex. To do this, select the most affected place, cut it out, and then perform ordinary injections around.
Chemical treatments
Today, stores can offer you a large selection of universal, antibacterial drugs that can most often help if a pear is infected. Diseases of leaves, fruits, various pests - all these are problems that can be solved quite easily. However, a bacterial burn is a slightly separate case.
Modern fungicides, in addition to copper-containing ones, practically do not affect its pathogens, which means that such treatment will have little effect. Many gardeners use a Bordeaux mixture. Processing is carried out after leaf fall, then in early spring and several more times until the fruits are poured. However, this tool can only be used for prevention. If the infection has already spread, it remains only to cut out the affected areas and try to save the rest of the tree. Dead plants or individual branches must be burned.
Other common diseases
However, a bacterial burn is not the only trouble for gardeners. Now let's look at what other diseases of pear leaf exist and the fight against them. A common ailment is scab. It is a bacterial disease that affects leaves, flowers, and fruits. Leaves crumble, fruits crack. The disease can also lead to damage to the shoots, but then it is better to remove them. Scab, fruit rot - these are diseases of pear fruit that respond well enough to treatment. Rot appears on the fruit in the form of brownish spots on the surface.
To combat scab, multiple spraying is used with Bordeaux mixture and copper chloroxide. You need to start processing before flowering. The second time this procedure is recommended during the bud setting, then after flowering and two weeks after it. Against fruit rot will require a more powerful tool - the universal fungicide Inta-Vir.
What else should the fruit tree (pear) be protected from? The diseases that are the most dangerous, you need to know in order to take the necessary measures in time. Powdery mildew is another extremely serious illness. Shoots, leaves, flowers - everything is affected by the spores of this parasite fungus. The infected parts of the plants are deformed, the ovary falls. At the same time, the fungus tolerates even the most severe winters.
For the prevention and treatment of powdery mildew , "Fundazole" or "Sulfite" is used. It should be borne in mind that the fungus spreads well in wet weather, so it is better to carry out several treatments. A mixture of antibiotics: "Penicillin", "Streptomycin" and "Terramycin" in a 1: 1 ratio helps well from powdery mildew. Often on pears you can see rust, bright brown spots on the leaves and fruits. Against this disease, it is necessary to use a solution of Bordeaux fluid.
Main pests
Choosing how to process the pear, it is good to include an insect pest agent in the mixture at the same time. They also cause considerable damage, in addition, are carriers of various bacterial diseases. These are the hawthorn butterfly and brown fruit tick, oriental codling moth and gall mite, pear itch, pear sawfly and pear pipelover, as well as many others. In order to protect yourself from all these misfortunes, it is enough to treat the garden with a systemic insecticide, such as Decis, Calypso or Biscay.
To summarize
Diseases such as a bacterial burn, powdery mildew, fruit rot, and rust can quickly nullify all louse gardening. It is necessary to regularly carry out preventive treatment, and if necessary, apply measures for quick and effective treatment. All of the above tools and methods are repeatedly tested, their effectiveness has been proven, so you can use them at your summer cottage without a doubt. The universal scheme is preventive treatment in the fall, after leaf fall, then in the spring, immediately after waking up, then after flowering. Usually this is enough for the garden to please you all year.