Fire blight: how to spot, prevent and treat it disease
How do you spot fire blight?
The blossoms wilt and blacken suddenly at flowering, the shoots dry up and curl like a shepherd's crook, as if the tree had been scorched. In wet weather a white slime oozes from the infection. Peel the bark at the edge of the infection and the wood under it is foxy red brown. Sunken dead patches form on the branches.
How do you prevent fire blight?
The disease attacks the pome fruit: apple, pear and quince. Remove late, secondary blossoms before they open.
What works against fire blight?
There are no products. Cut the infected parts out at once: peel the bark, look for the red brown staining and cut back to healthy wood well below it, on thicker branches a good deal further. Disinfect the tools between every cut. Burn what you cut off or take it away from the garden. In some countries the disease is under official control, so report a suspicion to the plant health service.
Which plants get fire blight? 3
Fruit trees 3
Sources: EPPO Global Database, Royal Horticultural Society
Checked on 18 August 2026.