There’s asian pear called Shinko, there is asian pear called Shingo. Your looks more like Shingo to me
You may be right… on the package it said shinko. Maybe i need a shingo…
I have a grafted branch of Shingo, maybe we can trade Shingo/Shinko scions in the future
Just found out through some forum digging that Korean Shingo may actually be Niitaka (Japanese named for us in the US.)
There are lot of miss labeled trees out there. There are also many miss describing trees out there. Few years back I read that Atago produces the largest pears. I bought a Atago, but it only produced medium size pears. It could be me, I need give it more time to grow. But I just don’t think it can produce pear that is larger than Korean Giant. My Korean Giant consistently produces 1-2pound size fruits
I’ve had Atago in south Korea and some were about 4-5 inches in diameter. At the time, i had my 1 year old with me and the pears were bigger than her head.
I know in the commercial orchards in Asia, they get watered a little bit almost every day and are checked every day. They’re very spoiled over there. Even with the extra water, they’re still super sweet. I paid about 10$ usd a Pear over there and the mangos were 16-20$ each. Strawberries were 8-12$ depending on the company that sold them and almost all strawberries grown overseas from what I’ve seen, are grown in hydroponics.
Asia just has a different level in itself when it comes to fruit growing and the size descriptions might have stemmed from commercial practices over there. At least for the Asian Pear varieties. Korean Giant is not the bigger pear in south Korea in terms of size.
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Thanks!
But even though Fragrant pears are from Asia, they’re not Asian pears, nor are Ya pears (Ya Li), they are all different species like European and Manchurian pears.
I suspect European wild pears are not their own species, but a cross between Manchurian pears and European pears, but I have not looked this up.
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Asian pear can mean pear from Asia, or it can mean pyrus pyrifolia… I was meaning the former and I think that use is pretty common.
In the opposite direction, peach and nectarine are both prunus persica, but you had better not call a nectarine a peach!
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GAHHH nectarine (left hand) peach (right hand) All I can see is one has hair and the other is bald. Is the difference more fundamental?
When in doubt, toss a question into a conversation and watch while 400 people argue whether or not a nectarine is a smooth peach.
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What about the bald peaches at the store? Deciding if it’s a singed peach, or nectarine is the latest problem.
Peel a peach and it still won’t taste as good as a nectarine!
Nectarines are just better.
Nectarines are peaches, the BEST peaches.
But peaches are absolutely not nectarines!
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I agree with this statement nectarine > peach.
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They’re selling the giant Korean pears here in America now! But they don’t taste as good as the ones in south Korea. Strange. I’m wondering if these may just be older.
These are the varieties I’m trying to grow. No idea but i have ataago and hopefully niitaka in the mail this upcoming year.
I’ll be trying to grow the seeds of these as well. I think someone mentioned that they fruit earlier if you try to graft the new growths onto an order tree?
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In southern NY state and nearby regions, most varieties of Asian pears I’ve tried fail to get high enough brix to be really good. For example, the only truly sweet 20th century pears I’ve eaten here were grown against a south wall. High brix is required for this fruit to be worth eating for me, and even a properly ripened Korean Giant, which does get the sugar up here, will never become a staple fruit for me. Loved them when I was younger but somehow they don’t have the same appeal to me as they used to- I like good Euro pears more as a staple fruit.
However, I’m curious about new varieties known for similar high sugar as Korean Giant. Right now KG aka Olympic is the only A. pear I grow in my nursery and orchard.
I would be much happier with my orchard tree if it didn’t require more spray than any other species I grow because of its attraction to stink bugs. The fruit on my nursery trees tend to be hit less because the bugs go where the concentration of fruit is.
@alan these giant ones from south Korea, in south Korea, were exceptionally sweet, complexed, and delicious. I’m wondering if these are just too old by the time they get here. They’re a little bland here in America but i actually have something to compare them to and there’s no comparison 
I use cold cup lids to keep my bags flared. They keep the bugs off. It can be time consuming, but if you wanna go fully organic, try it! This was perfection when we picked it
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That is a labor of love. I don’t love A. pears that much, but thank you for the pretty photos. Your name reminds me that a really good Korean Giant pear has a certain melon like quality.
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If you lived closer, I’d offer to help bag your fruits. I find it therapeutic and not so much labor until i lay down at night 
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My trees get big and I have 3 acres of orchard, nursery and vegie garden. I do not need more therapy through labor. For the first 100 hours, thinning fruit might be therapeutic, but the task goes on for weeks because I thin the stonefruit and pears on all the orchards I manage- hundreds of trees.
Asain pears are the worst when it comes to thinning. They are not going to get even more of my attention- it would still be quicker to do a couple of extra sprays.
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Asian pears benefit greatly by being grafted to Callary or Betulifolia rootstock, depending where you are you might have a thousand Callary seedlings growing in your hedges and poorly tended pastures, they’re highly invasive, but wonderful rootstocks!
They can be grafted to full size European pears, but the most vigorous rootstocks are best.
They can bear in as little as 3 years when grafted to an existing 2" or bigger rootstock.
Olympic is the same as Korean Giant, just two names.
I’d also recommend Chojuro because the flavor is different in different areas and even different every year, but similar.
Hosui because if it survives the firelight to adulthood it will be the most productive.
Raja because it flowers at the same time and makes crispy smaller Asian pears ready earlier than the rest, but of course they don’t store as long, but it gives you Asian pears to ear from August to December.
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