In my 35 years as a Farm Advisor, 2015 is the worst year I have experienced for fire blight.  Normally we don't even see it.  In a bad year it attacks very susceptible Asian pears, causes a few strikes on susceptible European pears like Bartlett, but causes almost no problems on most apple varieties.  This year, it devastated Asian pear orchards, wiped out European pears, severely attacked apple trees, and even caused extensive damage to ornamental, street-tree pears that are resistant to it.  It caught some commercial growers by surprise. 

The disease is caused by a bacteria called Erwinia amylovera.  It primarily effects Apples (Malus), Pears (Pyrus), and Quince (Cydonia), but it can also attack Hawthorn (Crataegus), Loquat (Eriobotria), Pyracantha and a few others.  It has been really bad this year for two reasons.  Number one is that we had a winter with very little effective chilling.  This caused many tree species to leaf out abnormally and to flower sporadically over months instead of a few weeks.  In fact it was common on apple and pear trees to see large fruit and flowering at the same time even into mid-summer.  Prolonged bloom is bad because most fire blight infections get into the tree via the blossoms.  Consequently, the longer the bloom period the more susceptible the trees are to infection.  The second reason is that we had several, abnormal, light, rainfall periods accompanied by high humidity and warm temperatures this spring and early summer.  Fire blight flourishes under wet conditions with temperatures in the 60^oF range. 

Commercial apple and pear farmers have traditionally used protective copper or antibiotic (bacteriacide) sprays during bloom followed by daily pruning cuts to immediately take out strikes that had gotten into the blossom spurs or new shoots.  This year for the first time, organic growers were no longer able to use traditional antibiotics, but fortunately there are several alternative, organically acceptable products that work quite well – just as well as the old antibiotics or copper sprays. 

HOME GARDENERS

For home fruit gardeners or those who have ornamental pear trees that they feel need protection, the most practical control is to prune out overwintering cankers and then spray the trees with a copper fungicide as the first blossoms come out.    

COMMERCIAL FARMERS

For commercial farmers, these are some of the options for control using organically acceptable methods: 

1. This winter when the trees are dormant, the branches and trunks should be checked carefully for sunken bark cankers where the bacteria overwinters. Those branches should be removed or the cankers should be cut out down to clean wood and sprayed with a copper fungicide. 
2. Next spring – at bud break (green tip), apply one of the fixed copper sprays for sanitation.  Copper sprays have been shown to reduce the bacteria by at least half. 
3. At the early bloom stage apply a biological protectant like ‘Blossom Protect', which is a yeast that colonizes flowers during bloom and protects them. Other effective products include “Bloomtime Biological', ‘Serenade Optima', ‘Blight Ban 506', which are antagonistic bacteria, or copper products such as 'Cueva', ‘Kocide', ‘Nordox', ‘COCS', ‘Badge', Bordeaux, etc. when weather conditions are correct.  Several protective sprays may be necessary if wet weather persists.  Care must be taken to avoid products that cause fruit russeting. 
   CAUTION: Remember to check the product label.  Labels change.  The label is the document that governs the legal use of the product.  Also, check to see if the product is acceptable for organic certification, if you are an organic grower.     

For more information see the following links:

• UC IPM: Fire Blight
• UC IPM: Fire Blight – Apples 
• UC IPM: Fire Blight – Pears 
• UC publication: Integrated Pest Management for Apples and Pears, 2nd Edition  
• eXtension: Webinars by eOrganic 
• eXtension: Non-Antibiotic Control of Fire Blight: What Works As We Head Into a New Era 

Mimi Enright, UCCE Sonoma Master Gardener Program Coordinator and Susan Foley, UCCE Sonoma Garden Sense Coordinator were honored to attend the International Master Gardener (IMG) Conference held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 23, 2015. 

They were there to accept the first place award in the 'Community Service' category of the IMG's Search for Excellence for the Garden Sense program.  They were proud to represent the hard work & commitment of all of the Garden Sense consultants who make the water conservation program such a huge success.  There were over 900 Master Gardeners in attendance at the conference from the United States, Canada and South Korea.

The Food Gardening Specialists (FGS) of the UCCE Sonoma Master Gardeners are excited to present water-wise food gardening strategies.Given our hot, dry summers along with the prediction of extended drought, we can't afford to waste a drop.

This video demonstrates how home and community gardeners can grow a thriving vegetable garden with less water. In addition, this video is complemented by a planting scheme and a drip system instruction and shopping list that reflects the 4x8-foot demonstration vegetable bed in the video. 

For people wondering if they can have a food garden with limited available water, the Food Gardening Specialists (FGS) of the UCCE Sonoma Master Gardeners believe that the answer is, “Yes!”  All you need to do is to scale planting to your family's likes and needs and to apply water-wise strategies to your vegetable garden.  The video, along with helpful water-wise publications, is available for viewing on the SCMG website: Food Gardening with Less Water. 

You CAN have a bountiful, water-wise vegetable garden in a drought!

On September 3rd, UCCE Sonoma County, in collaboration with county Supervisors Shirlee Zane and James Gore, brought together multiple agencies to discuss ways to move its incubator farm project forward. Given the challenges on the District-owned Rohnert Park site, the agencies invited were UCCE, Sonoma County Ag Preservation & Open Space District, Fish & Wildlife, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Sonoma County Water Agency, land consultants, county counsel, and a Rohnert Park City councilman to visit the site and then meet to propose solutions for moving forward.

This county-owned property is in the California tiger salamander (CTS) habitat and has had a history of seasonal wetlands, the group believes that this incubator farm project can be a model for other farmers and ranchers in our county who's land is also in CTS habitat.

Land in Sonoma County is expensive, and getting this incubator farm up and running, is critical for aspiring farmers and ranchers to support them until they are ready to be on their own. Those selected (through a thorough screening process) will have reduced costs by sharing land, infrastructure, equipment and mentoring; all critical components that will give them a much better chance of being successful.

UCCE's Technical Advisory committee will meet this month, and following that, a meeting to discuss next steps with the District.

Learn more at Sonoma County Bounty - Farm Business Incubator