Folks, it sounds like we have a lot of work ahead of us! Fun and tasty work!
Well I just learned a lesson on them, I’d left a bunch on the tree since I wasn’t so excited but they have gotten a lot better! Some of them were turning yellow early, those ones were bad (other asian pear varieties can do this, a few early ones yellow up but don’t taste good). But these later yellow ones are a step up. Still not a Kosui or Hosui but solidly enjoyable eating.
6 Likes
Interesting. Mine are mostly all yellow, but maybe I’ll try leaving the rest on the tree another week or so. As a variety I’ve been impressed by the low bug and animal pressure, but not at all impressed by the taste. Hopefully they just need more time after they all turn yellow to taste better.
1 Like
The best so far out of Nakai pears that I tried (and I tried alot) is Akizuki. I got 20+ brix on first year’s harvest of few pears which is a very high percentage, although brix % doesn’t tell the whole story regarding the delicate notes of aroma , taste and aftertaste. Eating it even with the skin is a delight
1 Like
Does Kosui set better than Hosui for you? My Hosui is extremely unproductive, but when I used to get them from the farmer’s market the Hosui tasted much better. Also probably the best Asian pear I’ve produced was a Hosui, just one of 2 or 3 that year.
Hosui takes several more years before it starts to set well. My tree is 23 years old and it’s setting too well now but it didn’t really get going until it was 12-15 years old. To me it is very similar to Kosui in taste, both are excellent asian pears. Kosui has thinner skin so easier eating but on the other hand takes more damage. On average my Kosui are a touch better, the Hosui can be variable but the Kosui are always fantastic.
3 Likes
Wow, 12-15 years. Mine is 15 or 16 years. It was the original tree to which I’ve grafted my other Asian pears. Only a small percentage remains Hosui.
To be fair my tree was in part shade for many years, that may have set it back a bit.
.. I decided now to grab a random Kosui and Hosui for a taste test. It was no contest, the Hosui was pretty average and the Kosui knocked it out of the park: super crisp, super juicy, super sweet, and a hint of liquid butterscotch. Wow! Note that neither tree got the best thinning, it might be that Hosui did worse with that than Kosui.
3 Likes
I have a Hosui grafted on a large callery rootstock in 2021 that is about 15 feet spread and about 20 feet tall. I’m waiting patiently for it to bloom and set some fruit. None so far.
Looks alike Early Shu [ Pears 2026 - #244 by Lyub ] , and a bunch of others, as well.
Underside pic?
1 Like
I’m going to list the pears in "Pear Varieties in China that are described as Excellent or Extremely good in quality.
Nanguoli aka Nanguo aka Nanguo Li is an older variety described as Extremely good in quality with strong aromatics and high brix. There is also a Red Nanguo Li which appears to be a mutant with red/pink skin.
Dananguo is a bud mutation of Nanguoli with similar description as Extremely good in quality.
Jinfeng is from a cross of Pingguoli and Chili with description as Extremely good in quality.
Xinli No. 7 is from a cross of Korla X Zaosu with description as Extremely good in quality.
Housui (Hosui) is described as extremely good in quality.
There are several others that reading between the lines probably should be in this group, but for one reason or another were not given the superlative rating.
3 Likes
i have 2 harbin pears i need to graft to asians next spring. i have housi planted but it gets f.b every few years so it hasnt had the chance to grow beyond 4ft. before being cut back. what other good z4 hardy, early fruiting asians that’s relatively f.b resistant do you guys recommend i graft these trees over to?
Hosui is very precocious and productive for me. A bare root planted gave me 1 fruit the 2nd year, and about a dozen the 3rd year. I have to thin about 60% this season and still harvest about 3 dozens. It’s still about 6-7 ft tall and wide. I’m wondering if all the energy in your tree is put toward vegetative growth instead of fruiting. Have you tried pruning it to keep it smaller?
1 Like
I’m not interested in keeping it smaller. It is on callery rootstock so can and will grow as large as it wants to. Your tree is probably on dwarfing rootstock which will make it produce earlier than a tree like mine.
My Hosui had serious fireblight last year that killed about 20% of the canopy. It has mostly grown back this year with few problems with fireblight. Time will tell if it is too susceptible in this area.
Shinko has been totally free of fireblight so far and has produced a few fruit each year. My tree is about 30 feet tall, and 15 feet wide with typical inverted cone shape. I would recommend Shinko for anyone in zones 5 to 8.
3 Likes
I know you don’t have much fireblight in your orchard but do you remember when you did if Kosui was particularly more susceptible?
It’s been one of the better pears. This year I had a few bad strikes on my pears, the Louis Bonne des Avranches in particular got nailed. No damage at all on Kosui. Hosui has had some strikes in past years but no issues so far this year. Korean Giant took a hit this year, nothing major though. Shinko is supposedly the most resistant but I didn’t like how it tasted enough to keep it.
2 Likes
Yeah same here with Hosui on BET. 5th year in ground and produced a ton. Flavor was decent. Was better - more butterscotch-like - last year, due to less rain I think. I also got impatient this year and pulled a bunch early so that played a role.
I prune my tree heavily for size control
1 Like
I have an update.
I have been grafting Asian pear varieties on OHxF 87 for 4 years now. Two of those 4 years I have been getting Asian pears from the ‘Shinko’ variety.
First year the pears were too hard to eat, and rotting. This year they tasted way better than I thought an Asian pear could taste, a strong rich butterscotch flavor, and sweeter than most store bought Asian pears. Although clearly still far from ripe, even if you want them crispy still far from ripe.
I could only imagine if they were fully crisp ripe. I personally think that this variety needs long hours of high heat to have the best fruit.
This variety is a very reliable early cropper, second year of crop, there was already way too many pears on the tree. I will need to thin them down heavily from now on.
The big problem that I am having, is that the Plum Curculio every year they put their young in the fruit. I thought I netted the tree before they could do that this year, yet they somehow beat me to it, and clearly I did not see holes that were there. The pears fall off prematurely, could that be because of the Plum Curculio, or could it be that the tree was only 4 years old? The root stock has been in the ground since at least 4 years before I started to graft to it.
3 Likes
That’s what I wanted too, but without copper spray spring and fall it’s probably not feasible to have Hosui on Callery. I’d be interested in trying it on Callery with a 14” Kiefer interstem (it’s highly fireblight resistant) or something like that. Apparently betulafolia imparts more fireblight resistance than Callery, but dwarfs much more.
I wonder if a highly fireblight-resistant, full-sized Rootstock for European pears would be a better fit?
Supposedly OHxF97 is highly fireblight resistant, so that would be my recommendation for a full-sized Asian pear Rootstock, I’d like to try a Hosui on it.