05/11/06 Fire Blight Season

Fire blight season. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It's that time of the year to be extra cautious of the weather conditions. Fire blight season is upon us as Tim Smith, Chelan County Extension agent warns. SMITH: We're living it right now. Every year from the time the pears begin to bloom until probably about the beginning of June we have a period where we have to monitor fire blight infection conditions and then when we get certain patterns of weather we have to respond. We're really, actually entering into the most risky time traditionally which is after bloom but before the pears are completely done blooming. So we're kind of at a time when we're monitoring and advising people on an almost daily basis. Fire blight can devastate an orchard, killing large portions of the trees. And according to Smith, it's not just pears that are susceptible. SMITH: Fire blight is a disease of pears and apples incidentally and in apples it's turned into a serious disease in the northwest. It's a bacterial organism that causes it and that organism generally gets into the trees through the flowers. So orchardists need to be on the lookout for unseasonable warm, moist conditions that are conducive to fire blight. Smith says they actively maintain contact with farmers to update them on potential conditions. SMITH: We have to monitor the temperatures because every once in a while anomalous weather occurs. You know it's warmer than it should be for that time of year and it would allow the bacteria to build up if they were present. And so we talk the growers through those circumstances and try and help them decide whether to spray or not. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.