Apple tree seen on the allotment with fire blight, a bacterial disease affecting mainly apple and pear trees, with the tips of branches dying off.
This image shows an apple tree with the tips of shoots wilting because of Fire Blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora and is taken on an allotment/ community garden in London in June. The disease affects apple and pear trees, quinces, loquat, hawthorn, cotoneaster, Pyracantha and raspberries. It is spread by insects, birds, rain and wind. There is very little scope for prevention. Trees that have been pruned too hard are specially at risk. The only real effective way to deal with Fire Blight is to prune the affected branch: the brown tip + an equal amount of healthy growth that follows on the same branch, and then to remove those branches from site. When the disease strikes in a garden or on an allotment / community garden it causes a nuisance. But if it strikes a commercial plantation of apple or pear trees, the economic costs are very high; sometimes whole orchards have to be uprooted.
Size: 5184px × 3456px
Location: London, UK
Photo credit: © Joe / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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