Streptomycin for pear tree with fireblight?

[schmidtke5]

Hello all-- I have a pear tree with fire blight that I've been battling for a couple of years. I have from the beginning been pruning off infected branches (sterilizing my cutting tool with alcohol between cuts), but that did nothing to prevent it from spreading to other branches. I applied copper for the first time last summer, and that seemed to help quite a bit, though only for a little while. (But I will definitely apply it again this year, probably at least a couple of times). I was thinking of getting and applying Fertilome's Fire Blight Spray (2 ounce container) with streptomycin sulfate. Though some professionals say it works only as a preventative, some people who have used it say it has helped clear their trees up and brought them back from the brink. There do appear to be ecological effects, so I would apply it only to that one infected tree. (https://www.fertilome.com/ProductFiles/10363_7401-311_Ferti-lome Fire Blight Spray_SDS.pdf) ; I've contacted Fertilome to try to figure out if I should avoid applying it at all given that I have a garden immediately adjacent to the tree, and I have three dogs who run all over the yard. (I could just keep them out of the backyard for a few days after application, if necessary.) Has anyone here had experience using it for fire blight in fruit trees? And in a small city setting? (I don't want to spray this if negative side effects/potential impacts to my dogs and garden outweigh the positives). I do have another cross-pollinating pear tree close to the infected one, but that one hasn't been impacted by the blight at all, and at this point I doubt it will. I also have four apple trees on the other side of the yard with no signs of the blight, but occasional caterpillar infestations. I did just purchase a "Holistic Orchard Spray Kit" with six components to be used along with two others (biodegradable dish soap and molasses) that I supply on my own. (https://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/holistic-orchard-spray-kit-8657) I'll definitely use all that stuff on my uninfected trees, along with the infected one. I feel like if I can't turn this pear tree around by the end of this summer or maybe two Octobers from now, I'll chop it down. Don't know how the other uninfected pear tree can be so resistant, but if I do chop the blighted one down, it would be great to replace it with one that is fairly resistant, if that's possible. Since the two cross-pollinate, I'll need to stick some kind of pear tree in it's place if I want to keep getting fruit. Sorry for the long post....

 

[DirtMechanic]

So that is a lot to sort out, but I can tell you really want to keep it as organic as possible. So fireblight is a bacteria, and has a nasty habit of becoming systemic over time as the bacteria get everywhere. 2 years in I would think you are there. Most of those treatments are effectively topical. It is important but you may want to try edible systemic protection. Agri-fos is one such product. Another topical treatment that can become systemic might be iodine, as found in povidone iodine also known as betadine. It's ok, it's in your salt generally.

Study the agri-fos label for the active ingredient. You can find it in other products also. But.....it's gonna take a long time like a year and this season may not be the best so keep spraying it. All seasons. Drench the agri-fos as if you were fighting sudden oak death disease. It will works it's way in as a form of potassium that the plant cannot use but thinks it is food. Then it rattles about inside acting bossy.

I am sure there are better solutions that someone will come along with but I have not had it here in many years since we had fruit trees and I did not know about some things like potassium salts of phosphoric acid back then.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Apology in advance for this, but I couldn't resist.

"What do you use a streptotrap for?"

"Catching streptomycin."

Very sill and unhelpful, apologies.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Apology in advance for this, but I couldn't resist.

"What do you use a streptotrap for?"

"Catching streptomycin."

Very sill and unhelpful, apologies.

I almost brought this up in the first post but streptomycin is one of those things that helps a lot, but by not killing everything can leave that little bit of resistant life that blooms later to come back and kick you in the teeth.

 

[NigelJ]

Fertilome's Fire Blight Spray (2 ounce container) with streptomycin sulfate.

Seriously? not only are you proposing to use an antibiotic, still used in treatment of human and animal disease, but apparently you can do so legally.
Antibiotic resistance is a massive and growing problem, so you propose to spray it into the environment to possibly treat a pear tree. Dig it out and get a new one.
I despair of the human race.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Antibiotic resistance is a massive and growing problem

The same can be said for herbicides.

 

[schmidtke5]

So that is a lot to sort out, but I can tell you really want to keep it as organic as possible. So fireblight is a bacteria, and has a nasty habit of becoming systemic over time as the bacteria get everywhere. 2 years in I would think you are there. Most of those treatments are effectively topical. It is important but you may want to try edible systemic protection. Agri-fos is one such product. Another topical treatment that can become systemic might be iodine, as found in povidone iodine also known as betadine. It's ok, it's in your salt generally.

Study the agri-fos label for the active ingredient. You can find it in other products also. But.....it's gonna take a long time like a year and this season may not be the best so keep spraying it. All seasons. Drench the agri-fos as if you were fighting sudden oak death disease. It will works it's way in as a form of potassium that the plant cannot use but thinks it is food. Then it rattles about inside acting bossy.

I am sure there are better solutions that someone will come along with but I have not had it here in many years since we had fruit trees and I did not know about some things like potassium salts of phosphoric acid back then.

Thanks! Will definitely look into agri-fos. Will also keep applying the copper as needed.

 

[schmidtke5]

Apology in advance for this, but I couldn't resist.

"What do you use a streptotrap for?"

"Catching streptomycin."

Very sill and unhelpful, apologies.

Ha!

 

[schmidtke5]

Seriously? not only are you proposing to use an antibiotic, still used in treatment of human and animal disease, but apparently you can do so legally.
Antibiotic resistance is a massive and growing problem, so you propose to spray it into the environment to possibly treat a pear tree. Dig it out and get a new one.
I despair of the human race.

I posted to the forum on this topic because I'm very hesitant to use the strepto. I get what you are saying, and will at this point almost certainly not use it. I'm curious, though, do you reply in this manner to all posters' statements/questions with which you have an issue? I despair of the human race as well, but for different reasons...

 

[Chuck]

Here in Texas fireblight is common with pears. Nearly all pears sold now are fireblight resistant. Two of the better ones are Keiffer and Seckle. With quite a bit of labor and expense, you can have a tree that has fireblight survive and produce some edible fruit but most have found it just isn't worth it and get another tree.

 

[NigelJ]

I'm curious, though, do you reply in this manner to all posters' statements/questions with which you have an issue? I

Only when seriously annoyed, comes of reading too many serious books and articles.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Only when seriously annoyed, comes of reading too many serious books and articles.

There are good arguments for not using antibiotics casually, but I don't think there is any deliberate misconduct proposed. You might save your annoyance for the drug companies who restrict research into drugs like these which cure to develop drugs like statins which are used for long term control on the basis that when the patient gets better the profit stops.

 

[oneeye]

Your pear tree was probably imported from somewhere else and is in the wrong location. You need to only use native pear trees from your area. Theres nothing you can do about that tree now.