Is that because of pollination problems? There’s a Harrow Sweet that’d be maybe 100 feet or so from where I want the Warren/Magness. Plus I have one neighbor who has a (Kieffer?) pear, and another who has a flowering pear.
I’m reading that Warren ripens later. That might make it the winner for me, so I can enjoy the Harrow Sweet without having the “better” pear ready yet. Century Farm Orchards says Warren is a “good keeper” Trees of Antiquity says it will keep for 3 months or longer. That sounds pretty good!
Thats not been my experience. Warren ripened here weeks ahead of harrow sweet. Magness ripened around the same time as Warren. Karls favorite blooms overlap warren and i got pears on callery much faster than most people get warren. My wood came from ARS GRIN so its unlikely its mislabeled. Harrow delight is the earlier pear i recommend. So in order of ripening at my place this year was 1st harrow delight, warren, Magness, karls favorite ( close to the same time) Much later is harrow sweet. This was my first year for warren and everything was out of order this year but harrow sweet is just now ripe.
Century Farm Orchards says Warren ripens about a month after Magness, which ripens right around the same time as Harrow Sweet according to Adams’ chart. Go figure.
Pear ripening times can vary signifigantly here depending on weather. We are ripening many things early this year and others such as ayers are very late. Next year i will see what happens and may have a better idea.
I just read this entire thread and thought I would add some comments as an older pear grower. To my mind there are several misconceptions about Warren and Magness that I would like to address. I’m from Mississippi and T.O Warren was my mentor at the start of my 40-year fruit journey. I was active in NAFEX and served as president, vice president and board member. So, I was involved in the early days of the Warren introduction and the controversy about whether Warren and Magness were indeed the same pear. Several experienced fruit growers thought they were but didn’t want to upset T.O. with that idea. Both are pollen sterile and are great pears. The most recent information is that T.O. got scions from an abandoned experimental orchard in MS and that Warren is lower chill than Magness (Information from Ethan Natelson in Houston, TX). I understand that Oregon investigators have stated that there is a genetic difference, but I have not seen that in print. In addition, my observation is that Warren is a healthier tree with no trunk blight tendency like Magness. Has anyone had a Magness or Warren tree have fire blight after a hail storm? https://www.apsnet.org/publications/phytopathology/backissues/Documents/1970Articles/Phyto60n04_593.PDF
I don’t remember how long it took for the two varieties to fruit in MS but here in Sebastopol, CA my Magness tree fruited in 3 years on P. communis seedling (the only rootstock I could find the first year I lived in Sebastopol - 1998). Warren took 4 years on OHxF 513 and a mislabeled Moonglow scion grafted on calleryana took 7 years (it is either Magness or Warren - I think Warren) And yes, fruiting can be a problem for both. This year I had a great crop on Magness, good crop on the Not Moonglow and a very light fruit set on Warren. In the past, the Magness tree always set very poorly so I started hand pollinating it with Comice pollen with good success. Four years ago I grafted Comice into the tree, this year Comice bloomed and I had the best crop of Magness ever. I know, anecdotal evidence, but I’ll take it.
When to pick. They both ripen at the same time. About 10 days after Bartlett. That translates to the 3rd week in August to the first week in September here. We are an hour north of the Golden Gate in what is called the costal cool climate zone. My key to when to pick is to watch for a subtle color change to yellowish-green and then for the first fruit fall. Then I start lifting individual pears to horizontal. Let those that don’t release easily stay on the tree to size up more. I get a two-week picking window that way. If they come off, pick them and put them into the refrigerator. I like to leave them there for at least a week then bring the fruit out as you need to ripen them. A week or so on the kitchen counter is usually about right. If you don’t like the really sweet taste and buttery texture, eat them sooner. They will ripen more on the tree but I think taste better with the cold treatment. And if picked that way, the fruit will store in the refer for three months.
David,
Welcome to our forum! Experienced growers like you greatly enrich it… Thanks for an excellent post! I never grew a pear tree, but I have been eating Magness, Seckel, Harrow Sweet, Blake’s Pride and Bosc for the past few years from a close by orchard. In addition to California Comice occasionally from supermarkets. I love Comice, but Seckel and Magness are my favorites. I love the buttery taste/texture of Magness!
I have plans to grow Seckel and Magness in my future orchard (I am moving from my current house soon) and perhaps add a Warren tree too. So, this information that you provided is specially useful for us.
Please continue to allow us learn from your long experience growing fruit trees.
Welcome to the forum! In my experience in Kansas any kind of damage eg. Pruning, hail, wind, cicada etc. can be exactly what fireblight needs to get started on magness and other susceptible varities. Rapidly developing cells such as blooms , succulent new tip growth etc. Quickly prove that. The fact that fireblight stops in the winter best shows its only weakness. Copper sprays help to inhibit the bacteria in the spring.
Forgive me if this question has been asked, but which varieties bloom in same period as Warren/Magness? Just trying to figure what to graft for pollination. I have a variety of Asian pears (KG, Hosui, Tennosui, Drippin Honey, Chojuro) as well as Harrow Sweet, Ayers, Potomac, Seckel and Anjou.
My warren has a dozen or so flower clusters shaping up on the branch tips. Had half as many clusters last year that led to one fruit that dropped at large marble size. Planted the tree in spring 2016. Got it from century farms on OHXF 97. I sure hope this is the year for fruit. Meanwhile my 2019-planted Dixie Delight on callery is loaded with flowers.
I hope someone in you area will give you an answer. In colder zone like mine, all pear trees seem to have overlapping bloom time (I have about 20 varieties grafted).
It a warmer zones, bloom time of some varieties may not overlap. However, you have several varieties growing. I don’t think you should have to worry.
My Warren has taken about 7 years to show flower buds ( this year). You probably will get to eat Harrow Sweet and those Asian pears before Warren.
I would like the size of the 333 better than the 87 sounds like
.Any issues with the rootstock and graft? I know two nurseries stopped using the 333 on their pear trees. They would not say why just " we have had better results with the 87. Just was curious.
Thank you for your reply.
