Hello all! Just moved into a new house and realized I have (I think) a Forelle pear tree. I’m trying to quickly learn about it as we we either at or are approaching harvest time. Anyone know the way to properly determine if a Forelle pear is ready for harvest?
You should be able to lift them up at a 45 (or maybe slightly more) and they will pop off/separate cleanly when ready. Approximate date depends on your zone. Mine are usually ready in early to mid Oct.
Ok thanks for that - I live in Minnesota. Should I use the harvest of apples in the area as a rough guideline for when that time might occur? Cuz it could easily be like 32 degrees F in early to mid October here. Apples are typically harvested mid September in my area I think.
I judge the different pears on my tree pretty much as @snowflake described. I like to give the neck a little pinch, and if it gives just a little I’ll cup the pear and lift it up. If it comes off I bring it in. The neck also seems to take on a little translucency when the pear is ready.
Many pears should not be left on the tree until they’re fully ripe. They can turn brown on the inside -spoiling from the inside out. I don’t grow any Forelles so I can’t speak to that pear in particular, but lots of pears are best if refrigerated for a while before being left to soften on the counter. You may have to experiment!
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If it’s forelle, you might be pushing it. Perhaps it’s something else. Just keep an eye on them. If it’s forelle (or some of the other pears that don’t hang too tight), some of them should start falling from the tree when they are getting ripe. You could wear a hard hat and shake the tree just a bit once in a while 
You could post a pic for everyone to see just in case it’s not forelle.
Once forelle is ready to come off the tree, they need to go into the fridge for a number of (many) weeks before they are ready to come out to eat. I think the commercial recommendation is around 12 weeks .
https://www.goodfruit.com/grow-perfect-forelle-pears-on-tatura/
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Here’s what I’ve got. They looked like Forelles to me. Let me know if they’re not. My mom cut a red one open and it was mushy and brown, but another wasn’t. All of these took some first to pick.
I feel like it almost depends with every indovidual pear, is that true?
Also thanks for everyone’s help with this!
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You might look up summercrisp pear which was developed by the University of Minnesota as a cold hardy pear. Based on ripening time, appearance, and your location, summercrisp is a good bet. Forelle is a later pear.
https://mnhardy.umn.edu/varieties/fruit/pears
There is some good info here, but the pics aren’t the best.
https://trees.umn.edu/summercrisp-pear-pyrus-summercrisp
This will show a few good pics:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=summercrisp+pear&iax=images&ia=images
Some pears are best just picked a bit early and thrown into the fridge for a while. I’m not familiar with summercrisp, but others might be able to comment on that.
Forelle shouldn’t be mushy until it turns yellow and loses the green. I brought 3 home from a market today.
I’m not familiar with Forelle but they don’t look like Summercrisp. There are several good photos of SC on the “Summercrisp Pear” thread:
Summercrisp Pear
They could by Ayers, which Google AI recommended to me as Fireblight resistant Zone 4, “early-season” and Stark Bros says would be harvesting on the turn of July-August. Classically thought of as a common Southern pear, but one nursery said survives zone 4.