Fireblight
DISEASE
When it's active · UK
JFMAMJJASOND
When it's active · Northern Italy
JFMAMJJASOND
When it's active · Central Italy
JFMAMJJASOND
When it's active · Southern Italy and islands
JFMAMJJASOND
How to recognise it
Blackened, scorched-looking shoots and blossom that fail to recover, often with a distinctive curled 'shepherd's crook' at the shoot tip.
Life cycle and conditions
A notifiable bacterial disease spread by rain, insects and contaminated tools, entering mainly through open blossom in spring.
Prevention
Avoid pruning in wet weather, disinfect tools between plants, avoid excessive nitrogen feeding, which produces susceptible soft growth.
How to treat it
🌿 ORGANIC · RECOMMENDED
Cut out affected wood well below the visible damage and disinfect tools between cuts — the only effective response for this disease, chemical or otherwise.
🧪 CHEMICAL · IF YOU CHOOSE
There's no effective home chemical treatment for fireblight — extensive or repeated outbreaks should be reported, as this is a notifiable disease in the UK.
PLANTS MOST AFFECTED