What's this on my pear tree?

[DeeBee]

Hi everyone

I wondered if you could advise what's attacking my pear tree? It appears on about half of the tree/leaves/fruit but the rest are OK (so far). I had the tree trimmed back earlier in the year and it's absolutely full of pears but I've just noticed some of the leaves are curling up and are full of black spots and the black spots are also on some of the pears. I can't see any bugs on them but something's obviously amiss. I've attached a couple of photos - hope they help.

Few questions:

1. What's causing it and what can I do about it?
2. Should I remove the affected leaves and fruit?
3. Is it likely to spread if I don't do anything about it?
4. Will the fruit still be OK to eat if peeled?

Many thanks.

Dee

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Dee, I think it is pear scab which causes black blotches on the pear foliage and fruit. The blotches on the fruit are only skin deep so the pears are perfectly okay to eat if you peel them first.

[DeeBee]

Hi Lesley

Is there anything I can do about it this year? And is there anything I can do to prevent getting it next year? And what causes it?

It looks really unsightly but I suppose as long as the fruit's still edible, that's the main thing.

Thanks.

Dee

[DeeBee]

Hi

Here's a bit of information about apple and pear scab for anyone suffering from it:

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf...cab-151464.pdf

Growing fruit - advice on dealing with apple and pear scab on fruit trees | Problem solving | How to | BBC Gardeners' World

Royal Horticultural Society | Advice Search | Apple scab

Hope it helps.

Dee

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Dee, I think the best organic solution is to rake up all the leaves at the end of the season and also remove infected shoots.

Thanks for the links but unfortunately two of the links - Which and the BBC recommend spraying the tree with mancozeb which was banned and withdrawn from sale in June 2010. Mancozeb is a carcinogen, a respiratory tract irritant and has other health issues. The other chemical recommended is myclobutanil and that was also due to be banned but the ban was revoked.