Help with asian pear trees

I have quite a few pears that are the size of a dime and black also mummified dry and hollow. Also some v cuts and some small holes. Anyone know anything about this.

1 Like

Vp,
Could you please post pictures and give more info on the following:
Where are you located?
How old are your trees?
What are the varieties?
What’s the weather has been like recently?

There are several people here who grow pears. Some of us may be able to give your answers.

1 Like

I am located in northeastern.
I’m not sure how old the trees are if I remember right close to 12 -15 years old . They were my grandparents. And the variety I have no idea my grandmother purchased them when I was a child. Thanks in advance, tony

1 Like

Oh and weather has been pretty standard 80s with decent humidity the small pears that turned black obviously happened a while ago. This is not the first year for this to happen. My grandmother had a stroke and the yard got let go for 10 years so they are also in need to being pruned way back.

1 Like

This link will help to identify common diseases http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardening/fphg/pome/diseases/photos. I do not suspect it’s one of those diseases but rather likely it was bacterial blossom blast http://www.ipm.msu.edu/diseases/bacterial_blossom_blast. That blossom blast claims some fruitlets early on or water and nutrient conditions can present those symptoms as well and have nothing to do with a disease. Fireblight can present shriveled fruitlets but rarely does. The two aforementioned diseases are bacterial diseases managed by a copper spray in the early spring prior to fruit set. Disease typically impacts leaves around the mummified fruitlets whereas nutrition or h20 requirements typically do not. Don’t overlook pollination issues if the pears are small and it’s early in the season when fruitlets drop or shrivel up. Here is a link with a few of the pear pests out there http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2823&q=377866. Here is a link with additional diseases http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1336#Apples. Do any orchard maintenance needed eg. Removed mummified fruitlets and grass and diseased leaves if anyhave fallen below the trees. This link has great advice on maintenance mummified fruit Archives – Philadelphia Orchard Project . It’s not unusual to get some scarring on the outsides of fruit caused by feeding insects or birds. The fruit above that’s brown on the inside it looks like a pest opened up the fruit via a tunnel from the outside and the fruit spoiled inside. Coddling moth can do that later in the season for me.

3 Likes

Ok thank you for the info I’m going to look into it but here are some more pics thanks

1 Like

Cut those shriveled ones open and see what’s inside if you want to learn more about the problem.

1 Like

Here’s some pics of the inside of the shriveled baby pears.

1 Like

I just really like to get these trees back to good health. I have no idea I think some of the leaves look like fire blight but I’m not sure I’m lost

1 Like

There are several diseases and tiny insects that are troublesome to pear trees and cause damage to leaves and fruit.

However, shriveled young fruit is puzzling. The one cause of this that I’ve read is from fire blight. It is possible that sections of this tree has been attacked by fire blight but not severe enough to kill the tree.

Where in Northeastern this tree is located? Will you be able to post pics of the whole tree or the sections that you think could have fire blight.

Google “Crop Profile, Pears in New York”. It is an article on pear problems from Cornell U. The info is for commercial orchards but home orchards have those same pear problems, too.

1 Like

Well we are right on lake Erie in ohio so very norther ohio any more north and we would be in the lake.
I Googled what you said and i really don’t know what I think, really there no obvious signs what it is. I may just try to find some kind of anti fungal spray that u can apply now . I’m just not sure. Here are some pics of the whole tree I feel that it is wildly over grown. But I does have alot of fruit on it.

2 Likes

The pictures with holes and claw marks on fruit looks like a bird damage. Some woodpeckers do their holes in a strait line like in your pictures. I do not know if they hunted for water or for the insects inside the fruits.
Also look into the mineral deficiencies. For example boron deficiency. If you soil has basic pH and dry the boron deficiency might happen even if it is boron in the soil. The fruits will have shivered dried patches under the skin like yours have.

1 Like

When you said you were in "northeastern, I thought you were in New England :grinning:

There are several forum members in the midwest @clarkinks orobably knows more about pears than most of us.

I personalky would not spray fungicide when you don’t know what you spray for. Keep in mind, many pear leave issues are caused by tiny insects that are so small that a magnifying glass is needed to see them. Spraying fungicide for them would be a waste of time and energy.

Also, if the issues are caused by those insects, spraying now could be OK or even too late. Timing of spraying is very important. Read up on those signs and symptoms of pear issues that published by Cornell, Penn State Extension service is a good start. Good luck.

1 Like

Here is the link to the nice illustration on boron deficiency in pears.

Boron deficiency in pears

1 Like

They do look like that . At least those two pear look like lack of boron. I’m so new to this lol. All two save two trees my grandmother started lol

1 Like

Ok guys I habe another question. I watched some videos on fire blight and I’m pretty sure that’s at least one of the problems going on from what I see. They say to prune it out. When should I do this. Honestly the whole thing needs pruned way back regardless do I need to wait till next spring? And in the picture of the tree trunk is there anything I should do with that?

1 Like

The narrow crotch angle shaped like a v on the trunk is a potential problem for breakage that could damage the tree. The tree is large now and trimming off that large v branch at this point is something I would save for winter. To much disease is active now. The trees have to much competition from other shrubs and trees stealing nutrients around the base which I would eliminate ASAP. The leaves look healthy in the picture. Leaves show no signs of disease and the tree has a good fruit load. Long term the tree is in severe need of pruning. When you prune you lose fruit that year but eventually the shape needs fixed because there are structural problems and you are losing fruits every year due to the shape. A tree can carry much more fruit safely when shaped correctly to distribute weight and encourage fruit set. I would add several inches of aged cow manure and then on top of the manure several inches of wood chips around the base to improve fruit set in a circle at least 6 feet in diameter. The tree has some fruit set now but due to all the things mentioned the tree is struggling. Look for bark lesions on the younger branches as well because we want to rule that out. Here is a list of diseases and the causes of some nutrient disorders https://www.apsnet.org/publications/commonnames/Pages/Pear.aspx. There are some pictures in this 2016 post that will give you an idea of how I shape my Drippin honey Asian pears Here comes the 2016 apple and Pear harvest!. Here are more pictures in this thread Drippin' Honey Asian Pear - #24 by clarkinks. You can see from my Asian pear pictures I grow mine upright but keep the branches evenly distributed as much as possible. There are people who grow there’s very different from mine which is just a matter of preference. I believe in pruning early so I don’t need to prune off as much later.

1 Like

I really feel like those small shriveled pears comes down to the tree producing what it can support. I do see some pears like that every year. Don’t feel alone on pear problems it happens frequently. This is when I discovered a boron deficiency in my pears Boron deficiency / Blossom Blast?. Note the harvest in the previous post so once the deficiency was corrected I’ve had no more problems at all.

1 Like

Anybody grow Hamese asian pear. This is its first year fruiting and they are sizing up nicely. But ive always had a problem figuring out when they are ripe. Not sure if it will yellow up or not.

4 Likes

I would eat one every 2 weeks and record the best tasting color or the date of the month.

Tony

1 Like