The sand paper like skin on the one on the left and larger white dots is hosui the smaller pear with smoother skin is chojuro. Chojuro does not have sandpaper like skin as much. Chojuro should have a slightly more pronounced butterscotch flavor. More of a spice flavor but not as crisp. Hosui is slightly more refreshing slightly less complex and crisp.
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I haven’t grown Asian pears before (but have 40 other fruit trees) and am a novice grafter with a few of questions:
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Will Korean Giant and Shinseiki pollinate each other? I’ve seen mixed messages on various pollination charts.
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How hard are they to graft? I am wondering about buying a Korean Giant now, finding/buying/trading for Shinseiki scionwood in winter, planting the bare root KG in early spring when it arrives, and grafting Shinseiki onto it in late spring. I’m a bit space limited.
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How do they do in containers?
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Do combination cocktail trees grow relatively uniformly for each species?
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One nursery I found ships bare root “as available” in December but I couldn’t plant until March. Is it safe enough to put it in a pot in an unheated garage until then?
(And incidentally would #2 or #3 be a good plan with a jujube as well? Honey Jar w/ a second type grafted onto it.)
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Pears are amazingly easy to graft, no worries there.
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Got a nice harvest of of Hosui for the first time.Waited until they turned from green to gold and was not a fan at first.Very bland. But I left a few hanging to where they were on the verge of over ripeness…and wow were they good. Incredibly juicy.
Year 4 with this tree and it has been maintenance free other than pruning. No sprays required at all. No fireblight. Caught a squirrel dragging one away but very few pest problems.
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This may be the source you refer to:
Or perhaps this video;
There was a 60 year experiment done in Russia that gives clues as to how man’s best friend evolved from wolves over 12,000 years.
I like this ‘Far Side’ cartoon: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2e/fc/51/2efc5129457d91a599017c3a6dc2b7e8.jpg
What does the fox video and story, have anything to do with Asian pears?
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Korean giant was easily the best Asian pear I grew this year. I harvested it, mishirasu, Yongi, shineiki, Nijiseiki, and Yoinashi.
Only downside for me is that they grow so large and heavy that they put a lot of strain on my trees.
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I’m getting a few properly ripened Korean Giants.
They are super good, but I think we like Hosui slightly better. They are crisp and sweet and so big.
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Nice clean pears. Do you think let Hosui hanging on the tree longer will increase the sweetness??
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It seems letting them hang longer does make them sweeter but the hosui pears are ripening nicely when pulled out of a plastic bag that is in the fridge. I just take a be few out here and there and let them sit to they get that darker caramel color.
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It definitely did for mine!
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Got my first real harvest of Asian pears this year. They are amazing. I don’t really have anything to compare them to but my kids love them more than apples, normal pears, or even peaches. I think they are Raja and Daisui Li.
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For a consistent Asian pear for farmers markets, my favorite is Raja, because it has the best combination of sweetness, juiciness and flavor. It is productive without having to be thinned. It’s one fault is that it cracks some years. It cracked bad this year even though we didn’t have rain for 79 days (Oregon). Does anyone have any tricks for preventing cracks in Asian pear?
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Raja is also the fastest growing pear I have ever seen.
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Nice to know. Mine are still grafts from last spring! Can’t wait to see what they do - and ‘when’! Your fruit looks great, Jim. 
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@Genedrive → 79 days! Wow! We recently had a 10 day stretch with no measurable rain and it became a story on the local news.
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Anyone knows the variety Nutiika? Thank’s!
I think this is an error and the seller want to say Niitaka…
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Agree, two years ago I purchased Niitaka from Century Farms
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And niitaka is a good one? Thank’s!
Mine is a young tree, so can’t speak to quality. Here’s some info.
Lots of info on the following site.
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