QuestionQUESTION: can bradford pears get brown rot, even though they are so called fruitless there are tiny pears which I believe were infected with the disease
ANSWER: I have never seen brown rot on Bradford pears. I have seen a disease called cedar-quince rust on the fruit. The fruit will have little orange tentacles sticking out of the fruit and when they dry up, they will be mummified and fall to the ground. It only affects the fruit and does nothing to the foliage. The most common disease on bradfords is fire blight, a bacterial disease that kills the ends of branches in the spring. If any of this sounds like what you have, please resond back and I can provide recommendation for management. Thanks.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thank you very much I was comcerned because i had the rot bad on my peach trees and wondered if I should treat the Bradford the smae way its the first year that the tiny pears diddnt fall off so I fugured it was infected also
AnswerUsually you do not need to treat bradford pears for anything except fire blight. They do not get brown rot and do not need to be treated as peaches do. Keep on treating your peaches since they are likely to have brown rot each year. Pick up any fallen fruit as they will overwinter the disease. There are several fungicides you can purchase at your local garden center for peach tree problems. There should be a product that has both an insecticide and a fungicide in it. Good Luck.