HS ripens in late Sept. Wonder when it will ripen for you. It is a mid to late pear for me. Harrow Delight is earlier.
Thanks Katie, Iām a designated Zone 4a, but havenāt seen those temps in a few years. Itās probably worth a try, I have a couple Z5 pears that are doing well so far.
2 Likes
Thanks Mike. I have given them your web address and will let them know you will have fall trees available.
1 Like
What are the best pollination partners (pp) for Harrow Delight and Harrow Sweet? I donāt want to recommend a pp that is fire blight susceptible.
Regarding Douglas pear, is it self fertile like Kieffer?
I realized my friends need to be strategic in the pears they choose since they will only be planting a few. They need to be fire blight resistant and get adequate pollination.
I have two pear trees, one of which is a HS. They are both growing so slowly! I am impatient, sure, but they really have only put on a few inches of growth between last year and this year. Is this typical?
I have not noticed a difference in growth between HS other Euro pears.
3 Likes
How close is that tree planted to your home? Will roots become a problem at that distance?
My harrow delight that was just planted this past winter is growing very slowly too.
Itās next to a detached garage, quite a walk from the home. I am not worried about it yet but we will see.
Glad to know someone elseās is slow growing. I feel like Iām not babying it but am treating it well and it hasnāt done much.
1 Like
Both HS & HD went thru -33 F during the 2018 polar vortex w/o dieback from which I recall. So did every other Euro pear. The Asian pears that made it are very few but one I recall is āDrippin Honeyā.
A pollinator for Harrow Sweet that is reliably known on the forum via ClarkinKS is his āSmall Yellow Pearā which he removed his name from to call it now.
Dax
4 Likes
Itās not uncommon to grow very little above ground the first two years, and then shoot up on the third.
You might consider throwing a bit of a balanced fertilizer on for peace of mind. I usually stick in a Jobeās stake or two each spring for young trees. Donāt know if it helps, but then I donāt have to wonder if there is a nutrient deficiency.
4 Likes
Great idea. It looks like a healthy tree, just little. For my own peace of mind- I like how you put that, as it probably would just make me feel better! And probably wouldnāt hurt anything. Think Iāll take your advice and give it a stick of some kind of mild fertilizer.
beautiful.
my too at yer. 2.5 itās blooming
beautiful to be ready to eat; hand pollinated for sure. congrats
2 Likes
We had an exceptional crop of Harrow sweet this year. One tree was loaded ! It was full of extra large hs pears. The other had fewer pears that were smaller. Iām going to grow another 4 or 5 of these
3 Likes
Clark, I donāt think you have a tree that isnāt loaded. No squirrels?
2 Likes
Had a squirell last year but remember nature is in balance here. If I have a squirell near those fruit trees he better run. Even grown deer are not safe here. That means we have their natural enemies eg. coyote, bobcat, hawks, owls, eagles to name a few. A squirell will not overpopulate my area because like cats or rabbits or mice or anything else heās food here. No itās not like the city. Rats are very aggressive here and in some cases take down rabbits or chickens. A friend once heard a rat screaming in his chicken house and watched all the other rats leave his property at that location. A snake was eating that rat. Nature is not kind we even have a few mountain lions aka panthers that come through. Iāve seen one Iām 100% sure what it was. We have many times saw signs of or heard others.
3 Likes
My Harrow Sweet this year have been heavily russeted. Not sure what caused it. Some of those had internal damage that looked odd, not typical rot at the core. The damage was all around internally in layers almost all the way to the skin. I forgot to take pics. If I come across some more, I will show you the pics.
2 Likes
Heavy russeting is caused by freezes when the fruitlets are young. Here is an example of that type of russeting caused by freezes .
This is an example of a normal pear of the same variety that did not get frozen in the spring
This pear variety is improved Kieffer today is October 29th. You can see these have been ripening inside.
2 Likes
Natureās editing. I think Tippy could use one of your bob-cats or panthers!
1 Like
We donāt have many of those but coyote are very common here and extremely clever. They travel in large packs. Squirell is a favorite of the Coyotes and the bobcats climb trees. Hawks hunt them in the day and owls by night.
1 Like