Thanks all. I had read that peach would work but was "short lived"...whatever that means. And I saw one reference to asian type plums working. Konrad, were those euro or asian hybrid plums that you tried? Good full sun space is pretty precious to us, if I can let it grow up a bit and then use it to host multiple grafts then I am inclined to give it the space. But that is sounded dodgy at best. Obviously I could graft more apricot onto it, but they are such a stretch for us I had not planned to try more. I had also considered no grafts and planting it off on the "edge" where it will get rather poor sun but still be close to the other apricots. Leave it purely for the spring flowers to see (and aide pollination) and to possibly use as a "trap tree" for the PC pressure. But I think it would fruit to rarely to use in that fashion.

Sacrifice a few buds to determine the extent of the damage. To do that, slice vertically, from the tip of the bud downward. Then inspect the interior. If bright & fresh, all is well. If any degree of browning, no matter how small, the buds are toast.

I just wanted to inform people that I had my pear tree problem resolved by sending an inquiry including the photos I had attached above. From the report back it looks like Mark was correct. You can read what the center emailed me and below that see the form I had to fill out to get their opinion. They also sent a link for me to read. I did inform Mark that it looks like what he stated above was correct. Lou Hi Lou, Bad news. It really looks like your tree had fire blight. It's not good. See http://fpath.cas.psu.edu/Fruit_facts/Apple/FBAP.html for more info and management. I think your tree variety is one of the Clapp's. It's listed as suseptible to Fire Blight. There are pears that are less suseptable but none are immune (that I know of). FYI, the easiest tree fruit to grow is probably a disease resistant apple (Liberty is one variety, there are several others). You will still have to spray to control insects but as least disease/fungus should not be a problem. Thanks for the photos, they help a lot. Good luck with your tree. Jean -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pezzuti@verizon.net [mailto:pezzuti@verizon.net] Sent: Fri 6/19/2009 7:55 PM To: Lehigh MG Subject: Plant Problem Form Submission Plant Problem Submitted: 6/19/2009 7:55:13 PM Contact Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lou Pezzuti Address: 139 Todd Lane PA 18235 County: Carbon Phone: E-Mail: pezzuti@verizon.net Plant Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Plant: young grafted pear tree Variety: Clapps Problem: Mewlwy formed leaves are discoloring. Tips ofa few of the leaves turn black and some curl. trunk does not seem to be effected. Tree is very small yet. Symptoms appeared: After leaves appeared on the tree Occured before?: No Plant part affected: Leaves Symptoms ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yellowing: Browning: Interveinal Wilting Other: I can provide a photo taken just a few days ago. Lots of rain this spring Type of Planting ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yard Problem Area ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunny Soil Type ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Clay Soil Moisture ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Terrain ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sloped Drainage ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Good Size of Planting ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acres: Sq Ft: # of Plants: 1 Extent of Problem ----------------------------------------------------------------------- % of plants affected: # of plants affected: 1 Trees/Shrubs ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Approximate Age: 3 feet Height: How long in present location?: 2nd season Chemicals Applied This Season & Previous Season ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fertilizer: Early spring table spoon 5/10/10 sprinkled around drip line. Fungicide: Told to use copper dusting-did so. Insecticide: 3 in 1 garden control Herbicide: Nematicide: Disturbances ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Turf-grass ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Comments ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I added these things mentiond above and also sprayed with Sevin and also added Epson Salts-1 tblspoon to gallon of water. I have a photo stored on photobucket.com. I am going to see if I can paste the address here to see if you can see the two photos of same tree. Thank you for your time Lou Pezzuti. http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k215/pezzuti9/?action=view&current=Sicktree2.jpg http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k215/pezzuti9/?action=view&current=Sicktree3.jpg

Oh, that is such a relief if that's the problem. It has been very hot and we were on vacation, so I can see that it could have gotten too dry. Thanks!