Knowledgebase
New apple trees - is this fire blight #867453
Asked May 07, 2024, 3:15 PM EDT
NC near Raleigh. New to fruit trees. I bought & planted 2 new apple trees about 6 weeks ago. Both were in flower. Since then, all of the flowering spurs seem to have died on both trees - not just the flowers, but the leaves on the spurs have all browned but remain on the tree. I've also had a couple of new growth shoots curl over & brown the same way. Both trees are otherwise putting out new growth on all branches though. It seems like it's new growth that was already on the trees when I planted them that is affected. I do suspect I was overwatering at first. Is this characteristic of stress from planting or overwatering? Could it be fire blight? I went back & checked remaining trees from the same supplier, they all look like this. I was considering adding a couple more, but if they're diseased then I'd rather replace the ones I got, using a different supplier, rather than throw good money after bad. File attached with a few images.
Wake County North Carolina
Expert Response
Bump.
https://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/2016/05/fire-blight-on-apple-pear-trees/