This old favorite of mine is so slow to bear i should graft one new one for the rest of my life to ensure i never run out again. Fireblight does take them sometimes. Once they start bearing you have pears every year. Their one life threatening enemy is fireblight.
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Clapps is so delicious I can hardly wait for July. If your young plant it now that’s what I did. It’s hard to believe these trees take so long to produce. I should tbud some more this year. @AndySmith your getting close to fruit but the wait is agonizing.
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To my surprise, my Clapp’s Favorite, grafted since 2016, has a couple of flower clusters this year!! After 5 years, the graft still has not grown much at all. I forgot where I put it on the tree until I saw the tag today.
I hope it will set fruit.
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If there are fruit set!!!
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@mamuang I’m very hopeful for you! Remember this pear is prone to internal breakdown so don’t let that happen. The outside will look perfect but check often. Your about 2 weeks behind me much of the time so when you see I’m picking Clapps Favorite watch them like a hawk or you will lose your crop. Use your thumb give them a squeeze you will feel the give. The tilt test must be done often. They could be green in the morning ripe by afternoon. The color changes slightly and i can smell them slightly. It’s crazy how fast you can fruit things in your area. They are heavy producers once they start Here comes the 2019 pear harvest!
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Clark,
From what your described, CF will go way down my list. Fruit that needs that much attention It is too picky for me!!
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You won’t think they are to much trouble when you taste them. Most ripened last time on August 3rd for me. Here are a couple of pictures from that harvest I took to make a point of what I’m saying. They may taste even better in your area, soon we should know. See how the outside of that pear was perfect? My small yellow pear is even harder to pick correctly. Hours matter on some pears flavor.
The picture below is what they should look like when they are perfectly ripe.
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Year 11 and I have two fruiting buds on the central leader that will bloom this year.
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That’s right on time @AndySmith and unlike many others it’s pretty consistent once it starts producing. Nearly every year you will get the same amount of pears which is a good amount.
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My Clapps Harvest has varied with the severity of the weather. Just be sure to pick them before they are fully ripe, or centers will be rotten.
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Then store extras in fridge and pull out what you plan to eat a couple days in advance. I wish I had known that detail when our kids were at home. I only learned it on the Garden Web forum.
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I picked mine this year large in size but still hard and green with a slight blush.
After one week in cool storage (60 deg), they ripened nicely after a day or two upstairs. After the second week, they ripened all at once in cool storage and many turned to mush.
Should I refrigerate than hard and green right after picking them?
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This pear is not meant for storage. Clapps favorite should be picked when they easily pass the tilt test and a few days later ripening inside they will ripen all at once. This pear like most high quality pears is subject to internal breakdown so you have a li.ited time to eat and store these. Pears such as drippin honey Asian pear on the other hand can store for months
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This pear never leaves my mind if you know this one I wonder if you like it as well as I do? It takes a long time to produce but the wait is worth it.
Yes I showed everyone in photos above that the centers rot if not picked at the right time. They are a delicious pear.
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For early season pears, do you refrigerate as soon as you harvest, or do you let them ripen some before refrigerating?
Last year, I had a largish crop of Clapps Favorite. This year, it is Ubileen.
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I refrigerate what I don’t plan to eat in a few days. They will keep for weeks.
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Last year I had a bumper crop of Clapps Favorite that was very sweet. This year, I have very little, but a friend farther south in Wisconsin had a tree full of them that he just picked and of which he shared a large bag.
The pears were picked before getting soft on the tree, but they are softening rapidly in storage as was discussed last year on this thread. My friend’s pears are softening into a buttery juicy consistency, but they are thoroughly tasteless. In earlier years, he had trouble even getting them to ripen, but his Clapps Favorite have always been lacking in flavor. I was surprised how sweet my Clapps Favorite were last year given my experience with my friend’s pears.
Is his tree too shaded? Is it lacking in nutrition? Does he need to prune it to get more light into the canopy?
He is serious about growing fruit in his yard – he is skilled at grafting and has collected varieties of pears and apples. I think between the two of us, I have a lot less practice grafting but I have put more study into pruning practices.
He is seeking my advice – he gave me a portion of his Clapps Favorite harvest with the idea that I could figure out how to ripen them in storage.
Any ideas?
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Clapps favorite are exceptional pears when grown correctly. Yes sunshine is key to growing good pears. There is another issue with to many pears on a tree can impact flavor.
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Following up to what you wrote last year about refrigerating early-season pears.
I just brought in some Ubileen and some Clapp’s favorite that passed the “tip test.” It might be a tad early on the Clapp’s favorite, but both types are large and have blush on them.
Do I refrigerate these early-season pears I don’t want to eat right away now, rock hard just off the tree, or do I let them ripen to some degree before putting them in the fridge?
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