Can't get any pears.

[Bonzoso]

Hi all, thanks for checking out my post. I've got a problem with my pear trees. I've got a northern facing hillside in NE Pennsylvania where I've been trying to grow a few fruit trees. Three apple trees and 2 pear trees. The two pear trees are standard Bosc and Bartlett varieties. I planted 3 ft. bare root plants about 8-9 years ago. These trees are now about 25 ft. tall and healthy looking. The problem is that they started flowering about 5 years ago with the last 3 years loaded with blooms. Problem is, the initial fruits grow to the size of a large Pea and stop growing. The last 3 years I had tons of fruits but none bigger than a pea. In fact all the immature fruits were virtually the same exact size. The trees are in rocky soil which I fertilize every year. The climate initially suggested to me that they were not being visited buy flies or bees during blooming, as spring can arrive early then hide behind winter again. I saw more than enough pollinating going on last spring to dispel that thought. Could thinning be a solution? The fruits never got big enough to discern what fruits to leave behind , like it was too early in the season to thin your crop but then the fruit stopped growing.

So what do y'all think. Any ideas
Thanks up front

 

[Meadowlark]

What kind of fertilizer (NPK) and how much do you apply during the season ? Also, have you had the soil tested?

 

[YumYum]

If you got a bunch of little fruits, pollination wasn't the problem even though pears are one of the first trees to bloom. I'd look at my soils ph and fertility before thinning.

 

[Bonzoso]

Thanks for the replies, folks. No soil test yet. Was considering that this year. I do know for a fact that it is probably on the acidic side in this neck of the woods. My pond has a pH of about 5.5 so I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Bonzoso]

As for fertilization I use Jobe's fruit tree spikes. 3 per tree 2X (April and July) during the season. 5-6 inch trunk staked at the foliage water line.

 

[YumYum]

As for fertilization I use Jobe's fruit tree spikes. 3 per tree 2X (April and July) during the season. 5-6 inch trunk staked at the foliage water line.

I've never used those but my neighbor has on his blueberries and said he didn't care much for them.

 

[Meadowlark]

Definitely check ph... should be between 6 and 7.

 

[Chuck]

As for fertilization I use Jobe's fruit tree spikes. 3 per tree 2X (April and July) during the season. 5-6 inch trunk staked at the foliage water line.

A 25 foot tree will have a trunk diameter of at least 8 inches, probably larger. Those 6 spikes per year are not even close to being enough to feed a tree of that size. At minimum you should use 2 lbs per inch of caliper out to the drip line of the tree using an organic fertilizer as close to 3-3-3 as you can find twice per year. Once in the fall and again right before bloom.

 

[Bonzoso]

A 25 foot tree will have a trunk diameter of at least 8 inches, probably larger. Those 6 spikes per year are not even close to being enough to feed a tree of that size. At minimum you should use 2 lbs per inch of caliper out to the drip line of the tree using an organic fertilizer as close to 3-3-3 as you can find twice per year. Once in the fall and again right before bloom.

Thanks for the info. I was just guesstimating my fertilization needs. Could be why I have a brown thumb. I'll start paying more attention to that. I kind of followed instructions on the tree spikes. Will definitely get a soil test too! Tree may be only 20 ft. Guesstimated that too!