I purchased a brix meter last year and I have only used it sparingly. Most of the time when I walk through my orchard I just do a taste test. This year I would like to see if I can do a better job picking my pears at the correct stage for storing and for fresh eating. Although I would like to do better timing with the apples, my most urgent needs are with my Dripping Honey and Korean Giant pears. A few days ago I pulled off a DH that was slightly damaged on one end and the other side was getting yellow. I sampled it and it was very good. I took the remainder inside and it had a brix level of 17. I’m inexperienced using the meter but based on its taste I would have thought that the brix reading would be higher. Just wondering if you pick by taste, past experience, or with a brix meter.
I have a decent amount of pears on my tree this year so I picked one of the Dripping Honey to taste test it. It was almost baseball size with no noticeable color change. To my surprise it was already sweet enough to enjoy eating it all. I’m only speculating but I think these pears develop sugar faster at my location.
Bill,
My KG does not ripen until sometimes in Oct, if I were you, I would wait until August to try it. Your area may be 2 solid months ahead of me. I would not pick KG any time before Aug if I were you. The good thing is KG has a long hanging time.
Don’t have enogh experience with DH. Mine ripens in Sept.
Thanks. The KG look like they are a long way from being ripe. The DH looks like some are ready. I picked a few on a heavy limb this morning to test.
I had a limb bending of the Dripping Honey so I picked a small sample. I plan to test the brix and do a taste test on these.
Tested 2 of the pairs today
1- had a good taste and brix of 16
2- had a good taste/little/tart near the seeds brix of 15
I was thinking about getting a brix tester myself. Seems like a good way to test ripeness. Most commercial nurseries use a pressure tester though. The taste test works, but hard to know your at peak.
I agree with mamuang your probably a little early for picking. Especially KG which is late Sept. here in 7A.
Although these pairs were okay they were not at their peak. As best that I could determine the brix level was 15-16. I will test a couple more in a week or two depending on how they look. Last year a little softness at the stem end seemed to work well.