Warren is normally a very light bearer you are fortunate indeed.
They are better than many pears without chill, but I still would usually give them a couple weeks of chill. Of course this year the crows enjoyed mine well before that. They did at least let me have a few Auroras which I am eating now and they are very tasty.
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Clark,
That is probably why I didn’t get around to thinning it. I just didn’t examine it closely enough, soon enough! I consider Magness and Warren to be very close to the same in most respects. For years, the Magness and Warren trees were shy bearers. I hand pollinated the Magness tree - usually with Comice pollen even though the Comice blooms later for me. It always seemed to help as the side of the tree that I pollinated set many more fruit. So, a few years ago I grafted Comice into the Magness and in 2020 had a heavy crop - the first year for the Comice to bloom. Of course, I assumed that the graft was responsible. The Comice went on to have several fruit on the small graft and as a consequence did not bloom this year. However, Magness had a very good crop with a few limbs overloaded. I think what has happened is that I have several new pears that have started blooming close to the Magness. So, my anecdotal evidence that the Comice graft was responsible for the good 2020 crop is probably not correct as much anecdotal evidence is not, I don’t have an explanation for the limb-breaking crop on Warren this year. Warren had a very meager crop in 2020 but no new pears are close to it. The next-door neighbors are Orcas and a multigrafted ?Keiffer that have not changed in a few years.
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I think I picked Aurora too soon. It was my first year to have fruit on that graft. I was very happy when I tasted it after I brought it out of the refer. Delightful with excellent flavor and texture. Very good for an early pear.The fruit were quite small, however.
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My Aurora from a graft grafted in 2017 set fruit this year. I thinned them. Fruit are on a med/large size.
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There is a research paper (maybe well known) that established a link between some chemical emitted by developing apple seeds (of biennial type apples) which inhibits formation of fruit buds the next year. Perhaps biennial apples emit more than non-biennial. It has nothing to do with the fruit load of the tree necessarily but it’s how the apples communicate to themselves for the next year of fruit. Perhaps some pears do that too, but I haven’t seen such a paper.
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Magness has taken off this year and Warren has a crop but it’s relatively light. Very interesting trees that have caused much frustration among growers. Warren and Magness produced quickly for me but others say the opposite. As you mentioned they are obviously siblings but not the same variety.
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This is what is said but there is more to this " Biannual Blooming
Pear trees may fail to flower after producing a heavy crop the previous year. This is because the buds for the following year’s flowers form while the current year’s crop is ripening. Supporting a heavy crop can prevent the tree from forming new flower buds. This leads to a cycle of blooms every other year. In young trees, it only takes a few fruits to prevent flower bud formation. Some pear varieties continue to have this problem throughout their life, while others begin producing flowers annually as they mature." Do Pear Trees Only Bloom Every Other Year? | Home Guides | SF Gate
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That might support the hypothesis that the pear seeds are also producing a chemical which in high enough concentrations stops the flowering for a year. Some pears might produce more or less. Not sure about other stresses beyond that. Sometimes stressed trees will bloom in order to make offspring before dying…so an overload of fruit that somehow stresses the tree could have the opposite effect if there wasn’t some chemical involvement.
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Is it true that Magness taste just like Comice? I have one on 87 that is no where near fruiting yet.
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Have anyone ever heard of a pear called Gordon? Someone sent me scionwood several years ago. I could not find anything about it.
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Maybe it was Gorham??
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That sounds a lot better. Do you grow it? What does it taste like?
I also have a graft of Elliot pear. I don’t hear much about this variety, either!
Thank you, Scott.
I don’t have it but I have Grand Champion which is a russet sport of Gorham. It has been a forever-to-fruit pear, 15 years and counting.
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Scott,
I was happy reading about Gorham pear on Fedco Seeds’ website until I read your statement that your Grand Champion has not fruited after 15 years. Yikes!!
The good thing is that if Fedco can grow it, I can grow it. I probably won’t have your patience, though.
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It appears that the old adage that the best time to plant an apple tree was 20 years ago should be revised for pear trees to 30 years ago.
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No it tastes really good but not just like comice. Different years taste different but it’s always good! So do I think Warren and Magness can be as good as comice? The answer is yes i do think they can be as good.
If it was me I would wire wrap a horizontal limb tight so I could taste some fruit next year. I have pears that take nearly that long it’s excruciating year after year waiting! The first 8 years don’t bother me as much but then I have expectations. Clara frijs has been a very light bearer so far but what it did produce was completely worth the wait.
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All the limbs were tied horizontal since about ten years ago. My guess is it needs more light.
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My Harrow Sweet is slow to grow, slow to bear, and has the most foliage disease out of all my pears. I got it from Adams.
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