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Fruit & Orchards

How do I know an Asian pear is ripe?

16 years ago

The bushy tailed tree-rats removed all my 20th Century pears. This was the first year I've had any fruit, so I'm wondering if they were ripe when taken. I tasted some split fruit about a week before the rest disappeared. It seemed a little premature, but edible.

I've got 2 housi pears still on the tree (only fruit produced this year). Again, this is the first year it has produced. I'm wondering if I should pick them now, just to beat the tree-rats to them.

Featured Answer

jellyman

16 years ago

Kal:

Something is wrong if your 20th Century (Nijiseiki) pears are reaching only golfball size. Asian pears need to be thinned heavily, sometimes over and over again, to allow the remaining fruit to achieve the size it should. I thin mine about 4 times, and the remaining pears reach over 3/4 pounds each. I am assuming here that you would prefer to have fewer large fruits than a whole basketfull of golfballs.

Yellow skin generally means ripe, or nearly ripe, but try Danny Boquet's trick of shining a light through them at night to see if they are translucent. I have been doing this for years, and it is quite interesting. When the fruit is full of sugars, the light passes right through.

Also specify your location next time you post. You may not be in the ideal climate to grow Asian pears, although they are widely adaptable.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Comments (8)

joebok
Original Author
16 years ago
Here is the larger of the two remaining pears. It is about 25% bigger, now.
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scott_home
16 years ago
I live in Austin, TX and I just harvested all of my hosui pears yesterday. The base color of the skin will turn a little browish when it is ripe. My pears are really juciy and sweet. I am completely satisfied with the quality. Can't wait for the next year's harvest.

By the way, my 20th century pear will need another 2 weeks to 1 month to ripe.
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dannyboquet
16 years ago
I check mine with a flashlight at night. Put the flashlight against the pear and opposite you. If the pear is ripe it will have a translucent glow. If it is not ripe, the pear is quite opaque.
murkwell
16 years ago
Danny,

That sounds like an excellent method. I'm glad I read this thread.

Do the ripe fruit give off a fruity aroma? Could you put your nose up to it and tell?

mytrees,

That's a nice looking pear. I'm jealous since I'm several years away. I still have to wait until next spring to graft Hosui onto the rootstock I'm nursing up for it.
kal2002
16 years ago
Regarding the 20th century asian pear, mine have turned yellow but they are small, a little bigger than golf-ball size. Are they considered ripe? Thanks.
vgkg Z-7 Va
16 years ago
Nice nite/light trick to know! An update on my 3 Asian Pears (Fire Blighted badly this year) I may lose 2 of them which have been trimmed down to 1/3 of their original size. But all 3 are still hanging on with still occasional trimming. Lesson learned - if a late frost kills the blooms then cut off all the dead blooms ASAP!. Fireblight will take hold from there and spread rapidly into the branches.
joebok
Original Author
16 years ago
I picked the pear on Aug 21.

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