Anyone got a Conference Pear Tree?
Discussion
If you do, what time of year do you take the fruit from the tree and how big are they now?
We have a large pear tree in the garden, this is our fourth summer here. First year nothing, second 1 pear about an inch in diameter that we only discovered when the leaves dropped. This was when we realised it was a 'pear' tree. Last year 5-10 similar sized pears.
This year there must be a few hundred pears ranging from 1" diameter to a 1.75" diameter. I've no idea if it's a crap tree having a good year, or whether these will continue to grow and be an edible size in a month or twos time.
Could do with some pointers!
Thanks!
We have a large pear tree in the garden, this is our fourth summer here. First year nothing, second 1 pear about an inch in diameter that we only discovered when the leaves dropped. This was when we realised it was a 'pear' tree. Last year 5-10 similar sized pears.
This year there must be a few hundred pears ranging from 1" diameter to a 1.75" diameter. I've no idea if it's a crap tree having a good year, or whether these will continue to grow and be an edible size in a month or twos time.
Could do with some pointers!
Thanks!
stewjohnst said:
Ours has been a good year too but if you've got a few hundred then you're probably not going to get the best out of them. You really need to thin them at the start of the season by half or so to allow the remaining pears to grow and be worth eating.
You might find next year you don't get any as the tree will be spunked out and take a year off to recover.
The way we do it is.
Mulch with organic matter in autumn (manure, coffee grounds, leaf mould or whatever) so it's well fed.
Blossom in spring, go over it with a cheap paintbrush or the missuses make up brush on the flowers to pollinate them.
When the flowers go over and start to form pears, thin them by half.
Keep it watered and once a week give it potash or tomato feed to fatten the fruit.
Keep a look out for thin new sprigs of growth on the tree (Google water shoots) and snap them off so the growth goes in the pears, not the tree.
Harvest them in a few weeks time as posters above have said.
And if you have a dog like us, harvest the low hanging ones first before the dog eats them.
Thanks, that's really useful. It gets plenty of water, but is growing in the middle of the lawn so doesn't get any feed. It's been abused because I didn't think it was capable of anything useful, but now it's shown it's true potential I'll make a start by pruning it properly, killing the lichen that's all over it and clearing out some deadwood and hopefully next time it's ready for action I can coax some proper fruit out of it. I'll need to get the ladders out as it's about 5m tall now, so I'm not sure how the paintbrush thing will work!You might find next year you don't get any as the tree will be spunked out and take a year off to recover.
The way we do it is.
Mulch with organic matter in autumn (manure, coffee grounds, leaf mould or whatever) so it's well fed.
Blossom in spring, go over it with a cheap paintbrush or the missuses make up brush on the flowers to pollinate them.
When the flowers go over and start to form pears, thin them by half.
Keep it watered and once a week give it potash or tomato feed to fatten the fruit.
Keep a look out for thin new sprigs of growth on the tree (Google water shoots) and snap them off so the growth goes in the pears, not the tree.
Harvest them in a few weeks time as posters above have said.
And if you have a dog like us, harvest the low hanging ones first before the dog eats them.
The plot thickens maybe.....
I've just bought two more apple trees, two more plum trees and another pear. While looking at different species I came across the Winter Nellis. A small pear that ripens in December and looks as lot like the small pears I have. A long shot maybe, but these are supposedly the nicest pears a chap can grow, so this may work out very well, though I won't get my hopes too high.
My pears are nowhere near rope, but they are slowly getting bigger still, especially right at the top where don't night be 5cm diameter now!
I've just bought two more apple trees, two more plum trees and another pear. While looking at different species I came across the Winter Nellis. A small pear that ripens in December and looks as lot like the small pears I have. A long shot maybe, but these are supposedly the nicest pears a chap can grow, so this may work out very well, though I won't get my hopes too high.
My pears are nowhere near rope, but they are slowly getting bigger still, especially right at the top where don't night be 5cm diameter now!
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