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curtiskw

what pear variety is this?

curtis
10 years ago

My brother moved to a new house and found he has a mature pear tree. It has not been pruned or etc recently but in good shape overall. it was not thinned this year because he didn't know it was there until a month ago. They are ripening now.. it is Zone 4 (Sioux City IA)

Anyone know the variety? Also would they taste better if they had been thinned or size the only advantage? Not that they taste bad, but he had hoped for sweeter. Although maybe need to sit a few more days.

Comments (9)

  • marknmt
    10 years ago

    Anjou and Comice are both fairly globular pears. But there are lots.

    Ripening pears can be a little strange. They tend to spoil from the inside out if left on the tree until ripe. Many pears need a chill period to ripen well. Try refrigerating your pears a couple of weeks; then leave them on the counter top to soften. Pick when the neck shows a little give when squeezed.

  • Scott F Smith
    10 years ago

    I don't recognize the variety. Why did he pick them? Its early for pears, I have only picked asian pears at this point, most European pears ripen in Sept/Oct. Pears are picked when you feel a little give at the top when you press hard with your thumb. Then you put them in a fridge for a few weeks, then on the counter for a few days. Many pear varieties will not ripen well if you do not follow these steps.

    Scott

  • curtis
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I already asked him how he had decided they were ripe and he said they were getting soft to the touch. Also if you look some have a yellow tint

    This post was edited by cckw on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 14:39

  • Scott F Smith
    10 years ago

    OK, that means they are a summer pear since they are ripening so early.

    If you knew roughly how big around it was you can get an idea of how old it is and look for pears popular then. Summer pears are not popular now so my guess is it is an older tree. If it is older the link below has lots of pictiures of pears from about 100 years ago.

    Scott

    Here is a link that might be useful: PONY

  • curtis
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I went there today. those pears suck. mostly about 2.5" diameter, there are some ripe ones and some green, the green are better then the ripe, but none are very juicy and the taste is bland. One thought I briefly had was maybe it was grown from seed, but it has suckers with a different leaf.

    His kids (6 of them ages 2-12) like to eat them, but probably mostly due to the novelty of it. I think a gradual rework of the tree is best. Gradual so the kids can gnaw on something until the new stuff is ready.

    Anyone having a pear tree that is good in zone 4 willing to send me some scions next spring? Please e-mail me if so. I would love to get him growing some good pears.

    This post was edited by cckw on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 0:51

  • maryhawkins99
    10 years ago

    Are the "ripe" ones soft? Maybe they'll get larger in a month

  • curtis
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    the ripe ones are soft and turn yellow & red rather then green and red.

  • DaveLindahl5432
    10 years ago

    I have the same looking pears in my back yard in Mn and they have been falling off the tree already. They are hard for the most part but taste great and that's with just rinsing them off and eating them right away. The pears are smaller than usual and for the first 2 years we lived there the tree didn't produce any pears? Now it produces a lot but every year they fall off early but this year I was spraying them with a 9ph water to keep bugs and crap off them and there delicious but could the apples have cross pollinated to create a apple pear?

  • curtis
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have determined they are Summercrisp. I figured this out trying to find something good to graft onto this tree. All details match. that pear is best picked green, and eaten when it is firm like an apple. I have some of the better green ones in the fridge and going to try one a week and see if they get better with storage. But so far IMO these pears are a waste of a tree. what I brought home we made pear sauce so we could doll it up a bit.

    But enough about those.. right now my tummy hurts from eating too many fresh peaches from a friends tree.

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