Dripping Honey is the pear that wasn’t overrated. I thought Korean Giant was very good but DH has a little honey flavor that was awesome. This was my first DH. Thanks @clarkinks
This is only my second Dripping Honey pear and I might just be guessing about this but it appears to be pretty easy to determine when it is ripe. Wait until it starts to get yellow and check the stem end for softening. Some years I pick European pears too early and some too late.
I just had my first Dripping Honey harvest this year as well and was very impressed. I got three fruit and the squirrels got the other three. I didn’t take any pictures, but I think I picked mine earlier than yours - they were still light green and brown skinned but very sweet and delicious. And good size too. No softening at the stem end when I ate them.
It all depends how you like them. If you let them get very yellow they get soft and extremely sweet much like a european pear. If you pick them still light green but not yellow yet they keep longer and are crisp and crunchy like sweet ice. Very good pear however you eat them! These pears really store a long time (many months) when picked like asian pears.
This concludes my 2022 harvest of Dripping Honey. I have a few limbs already grafted and there should be more blooms next year. The people who have gotten a taste test say to graft more trees of DH.
That’s been my conclusion too - I need to graft more Dripping Honey, in places where the wildlife is less inclined to go and take them from me.
Here is the older thread from 2015 when the website first started up. This is a good source of information if anyone is looking for additional information Drippin' Honey Asian Pear . @mamuang didnt have the best luck with these pears but that may be better now as the grafts age. She brought up a valid point that they can crack some years and she is right it occasionally happens here. Overall these are exceptional pears that people will wish they had more of them. Have grown these pears since gurneys released them and i really think they are winners.
I thought I would have had this pear this year from the 5 years old graft which set several fruit this spring.
P Well, the animals had the same idea. So far, I have only tiny one left. It has not sized up due to lack of water. Not sure if it still will be there at ripening time or not.
I am getting a crop now, I scared the crows enough that they did not take them all. I haven’t had the best of luck on timing, the really yellow ones are too soft and a bit boring in taste and the green ones are a little too … green. A few in the middle have been really good, but I need to work on the timing. The Hosui I have also been picking now and any green on them is not good, they need to be all yellow to be tasty.
I think it overset last year, there were few blooms this year. The good news is I topworked another tree over to Drippin Honey so should get a lot more down the road.