Pear Tree Leaves

I'm in SE Georgia, and my pear tree is finally coming alive after losing all its leaves during the winter. But, I'm seeing the leaves curl, and turn black and crispy along the sides. Please see photos.
This is in a 15 gl nursery bucket in which it came, and am watering about every 3 days depending on what my trusty Ferry Morse water gauge says.

Any help greatly appreciated.  Am hoping to nip this now before I get more foliage and the problem gets worse.

Thank you.

This could have many reasons.

The worst one is done by a Bacteria called Erwinia amylovora or Fire Blight which is a worldwide Problem and this disease is already over a century in the United States.

The curled leafes show also slight Symptoms of Dasyneura pyri or Leaf curling Midge. You would see them as tiny little flies swarming before sunset around your trees.

A Fungus Stemphylium vesicarium could be also the culprit but seeing your picture I would rather go for the above problems because the fungus would spread anywhere on the leaves and not only at the outsides.

But also weather circumstances could cause this, if you had wet leaves and a cold spell at night.
Especially Pears react very sensible on such weather conditions and they symptoms are much like the above mentioned Fire Blight.

The best is to visit a recommended Garden Center or Nursery with a sample, to close out all possibilities and get the right treatment before its getting worse.

.and of course get the tree out of the pot into the soil, as a pear tree is always weak in (unmaintained or old soil) pots which makes them prone to any attack and disease.

It looks like it could be cold weather damage by a late frost, my earliest ones to leaf out had minor similar damage.

Good info from See above. I would reiterate to get it out of that “bucket”, which almost always have inadequate drainage/air holes. Plastic pots also cause root circling, and many other problems like rot and overheating/freezing as they fluctuate much more than the ground. If it needs to be watered every three days, it is in much too small of a pot. I suspect it may be waterlogged and getting root rot. I find lifting the pot slightly to gauge its weight/saturation much more reliable than any instrument.  It should feel noticeably lighter before watering again.

Still, it really will not be healthy unless its in the ground or a much larger and better drained container. Given that a pear will need winter chill to fruit, I don’t see a benefit of keeping it in a pot (as one might with citrus to move it inside in winter). Make sure to uncoil any circling roots and allow them to spread fully in a hole dug wide enough to accommodate them, and just deep enough to have the root flare just above ground. It can be an irregular shape to accommodate roots of different lengths without unnecessary work and soil disturbance. Planting “proud” or high, is almost always better than too deep, unless its a plant that roots from the stem easily (tomato, elderberry, raspberry).

I would also make a compost tea with the best compost you can find, and minimal microbe foods in it. Screen it through 400micron mesh to allow as many microbes through as possible without clogging the sprayer, and fully cover the tree and leaf litter below it. After letting the pot get light (meaning roots are getting air that they need as much as water) I would also water with a compost extract at the next watering and soak the roots in it at transplanting. This will give the tree a healthier microbiome to fight whatever disease it has. I was able to eliminate any visible leaf curl on two badly infected nectarines last year doing this.

Thank you for the quick response.  I'll take a closer look at your suggestions and what I can do about it.  Thanks again.