Has this one been a slow grower for anyone else? I’ve been growing this pear for a few years and it’s not taking off for me. @Matt_in_Maryland said it’s worth the wait. I can’t go off my two trees alone and assume it grows slow for everyone. I’m not willing to put in anymore just yet. Are the buds and blossoms small on this tree? The wood on my tree is very small in comparison to other pears. Maybe mislabeled?
Among the very best pears I’ve ever eaten- right there with Magness and Doyenne du Comice.
My graft is still a tiny nub… waiting…
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Matt,
Did not remember planting HQ until I was following up on my 3 year old trees tonight and saw them starting to get some size to them. I kind of wrote them off as slow growers and forgot them. My 1 year old trees I know even less about because I planted so many of them. There are some good pears in my fields but it will take some time to grow them out. I’ve found time passes fairly quickly.
I have a HQ also. very slow for me also
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It has been for me, but then most of my fruit trees are half-dead.
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Kokopelli5A,
5A should be a very good climate for many pears . Does it seem to be weather or soil causing you problems? Harvest Queen is making me look like the worse pear grower there ever was. Thankfully a few of my pears such as kieffer, douglas, and duchess make me look like the best pear grower there ever was.
I have a keiffer about 8’ downhill from the chicken coop that makes me look good. 20’ tall and 5yrs. old. I’ll send your scion Mon.
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Clark,
I’m thinking you got the wood from me. I was growing it on another pear and it was very vigorous. Last year I grafted that pear on several seedling pear rootstocks and they were also vigorous, more so than the Harrow Sweet pears I grafted.
That said I can’t say for certain the wood I sent is true to type because I haven’t fruited Harvest Queen yet (as I mentioned when I sent the wood). I will say the guy I got my wood from, got his tree from a reputable nursery, but even he hadn’t fruited it yet.
Golly, I hope I haven’t perpetuated fake ruse!
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My HQ came from cummins.
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Olpea,
These are a few years old. I think the pear wood I got from you was harrow delight which was just last year. I’m pretty sure I got this as a tree from somewhere online or local so it could be the rootstocks. Yours say harrow delight and they are very vigorous growing pears that have already outgrown these three year olds.
Whew! Thanks Clark. You had me sweating there for a little bit.
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I double checked and am positive yours were harrow delight. They say HD.
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I impulsively bought a tree from Cummins on quince rootstock not knowing that quince (Supposedly) doesn’t like alkaline soil.
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I did not realize quince does not like alkaline soil either.
How’s everyone’s Harvest Queen pears doing? Did they ever pick up their growth?
Any pears yet? 
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Still chugging along. A deer set it back but it’s slowly but steadily recovering.
It’s precocious. It tried to set fruit this year when almost nothing else did (late frost.).
I remain hopeful.
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HARVEST QUEEN (HW 602) is the only harrow station pear i had bad luck with.
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I got a few fruit from one of the two grafts. It tasted fine. I detected more tartness in it than in Harrow Sweet or Harrow Delight.
My two graft have grown ever slowly.
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Good to hear. Now I know to stay away from it. What is the other Harrow? Delight, Sweet, Queen, ???
My HQ tried to set a huge crop again. Too soon to draw any conclusions, but a very hopeful sign in my Rocky Mountain foothill climate where spring frosts killing the flowers is practically the norm.
Sweet, melting Bartlett type pear. As mentioned earlier, precocious. A huge, huge, advantage. What other pear is subject to stunting out?
Next year I let it set a real crop if it will.
My advice: get it, but size up the rootstock from what you would normally use.
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