That looks like bad catfacing from insects
Doesn’t look like rust to me, probably stink bugs. Maybe Stoney Pitt virus
Thank you! Bagging a few when young may help I guess. (There is not much consumption of pear at my place. I cannot eat a whole fruit a day due to the sorbitol in the fruit.
I agree that appears to be from stink bugs. Some pears are worse than others. Had a pear do the same this year and no others in my orchard have the issue. Im growing all my pears spray free the last 2 years so i could have nicer fruit. I sprayed clapps favorite with copper this spring only.
This is drippin honey growing with very few problems not even 30 feet away. There is an occasional one in the box of drippin honey with the issue but certainly not all of them.
Stony pit virus is possible if your entire tree is like that but insects are more likely. Its possible my one newer asian pear with the issue may be stony pit but it does not spread its a grafting virus so im not concerned. I purcbased the tree from a nursery about 4 years ago. If it is stony pit the tree will be removed and a persimmon added in its place. Im not concerned. See this article Pear stony pit - Integrated Pest Management
Before you diagnose your pear with a less common virus remember sucking insects cause very similar symptoms and are far more common in an unsprayed orchard Fold, Fallow and Plough: Catfacing on Pears
If the pears are planted very close together the roots could graft together over time and it could spread though the orchard if it was a virus. Your one of many to report the problem Very Deformed Pears. The Brown marmorated stink bug is the primary issue currently http://treefruit.wsu.edu/crop-protection/opm/brown-marmorated-stink-bug/ and until we got them in this area i did realize the severity of the problem. Peel the pear and look under the skin for brown spots if present the pear has stinkbug damage as the ones i checked so far do https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/pear-pyrus-spp-stony-pit with the exception of my newer asian pear. That brown under the skin is present always with stink bugs but im not sure with other insects yet. BMSB seem to pick on some pears more than others for a reason not well understood as do green june beetles, japanese beetles etc. This article explains in great detail more about the issue https://ask.extension.org/questions/153428
If you zoom in on the picture i posted above you can see clearly there is excessive insect damage on the small deformed pears i posted for a reason i do not understand. Note the brown centers that are very obvious bite marks but not always present if they healed over
Thank you. I may have both issues.
I do remember seeing a lot of stink bugs in May or so. I thought it was related to rust because some of my pears are also affected by it. (orange thread like protrusions)
So far the Asian pears, Warren, Magness, and Pineapple are affected by the stink bugs and/or the virus. Seckel, Moonglow and Orient does not seem to be affected.
I am good as long as I get a few good fruit. I don’t want to spray etc.
It appears a lot of the damage is due to stink bugs so you may want to consider a trap like the one in the video shown below. I trapped JB this year and found the jb trap highly effective The Ultimate Japanese Beetle trap. If you have a really big problem just make a bigger trap as @39thparallel did for me to address the beetle problem. If you have an ornamental pond use the bugs for free fish food! I use lights to lure bugs to my large fish ponds to use as fish food.
Cool!. Will have to give that a shot. Thank you!!!
That’s heavy damage. I doubt you can avoid it with organic control. I would spray with insecticide from petal drop every 10 to 15 days up to 2-3 weeks before harvest. As @clarkinks said I’m trying organic controls. At this point, They only help to reduce insecticide application if you want marketable fruit.
At what time of the growing season would the stinkbugs be attacking.
Attached is a photo of my Colette Pear. I put the damage to not being out there early enough to hit the P. Curculio.
I thought stink bus were later in the year
Mike
Peel those pears once ripe and look under the skin at the flesh and if the area is brown in the lesion site you know your dealing with brown stink bugs. Normally when curc first hit whatever they hit they leave cresent moon cuts like in this photo of apple damage i took several years ago.
Codling moth burrow through the fruit until they get to the seed area. Those fruit look like they were attacked by some type of pest that was likely a type of stink bug. There are different types.
Thanx,
I just put them in the fridge for their 3-4 week cold storage. Will know then.
I thought that stink bugs were a later season danger. I saw these defects early on.
Mike