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Pear disaster

Last year our two pear trees blossomed wonderfully followed by lots of tiny fruit. Within weeks most of these pea sized fruits turned black and dropped off. The very few remaining pears grew to very large and tasty pears. The trees are mature and inherited in situ, so we don't know age or type although they look conference style. Any help to avoid repetition this year?

Posts

  • Birdy13Birdy13 Posts: 595

    I'm not an expert but do have a 4-6 year old conference pear which has been doing well for the last 2 years. For the first 2-4 years the few flowers I did get never developed.

    A short checklist of care which worked for me would include things like:

    1. Water generously
    2. Feed the roots periodically
    3. Spray against pests
    4. Judiciously prune when you have to (eg cutting out crossing or damaged branches)

    I'm still working out just how much of No 4 and if if at all on my conference: I've heard pears shouldn't be pruned very often but I want to keep mine at a manageable height. 

  • Birdy13Birdy13 Posts: 595

    Just noticed you said they are mature trees. failed pollination does sound more likely - do you get plenty of bees around your garden? If not, try attracting some by planting brightly coloured flowers and shrubs like lavender.

  • KFHKFH Posts: 2
    Thanks for the comments. Quite a few bees and wasps in the garden.

    I would have thought pollination OK as the blossom was followed by fruit albeit small. It was a dry spring though.
  • This sounds like pear midge to me. We had this in our previous garden and lost the entire crop the first couple of years. After that we used to spray the tree just before the blossom buds flowered. I'm not sure how to add links but if you google "pear midge" there's an RHS page with information on how to treat it.

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