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Fruit & Orchards

Are these pears ripe and ready for picking?

5 years ago

Hello All:

I've researched Houzz/Gardenweb about knowing when pears are ripe for picking. Everyone says when you can turn the pear up 90 degrees or parallel to the ground, and it breaks free, then it should be picked and cooled, etc. etc. etc.

What I am not really clear on is should the pear break free without a stem or will it still have a stem. Today, I turned three pears 90 degrees. All snapped off but at the first joint above the stem. Is this correct or should I wait longer. If so, will they break free from the fruit?

The picture is the result of todays picking.

Thank you everyone in advance for your comments.

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Comments (7)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
5 years ago
No pictures. There should be just the short fruit stalk. No part of the twig or branch should be attached.
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freedomeagle
Original Author
5 years ago
0
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Each of my fruit trees generally has a harvest window of 2-5 weeks and thus as soon as you start to see ripe or over ripe fruit on a particular tree, get ready to pick the rest over the coming weeks. My last pineapple pear was picked last week, and despite using tulle drawstring bags around the pears i still lost a lot to birds and squirrels (next year will net the tree). The animals will start on the pears ~ 3 weeks before ripe, when ripe just a little lift up and twist and the stem breaks (like an apple) and the pear falls into your hand. They had ugly skin but had nice juicy, smooth , somewhat sweet with a hint of pineapple taste right off the tree. My Stark Honey Sweet pear semi dwarf fruited in it's seventh year and they were smaller than most pears, but fabulous... sweet, smooth, juicy, etc. and i finished picking them last weekend using the same methodology as the pineapple pear. Some that i pulled probably a week or two early (didn't want the creatures to get them) ripened at room temp in the kitchen in a week or two. You can smell when they start to get ripe or over ripe, but think i can start to feel a slight softness when squeezing the fruit when ripe as before it was hard as a rock.
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freedomeagle
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks. I thought I had uploaded the photo previously
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vgkg Z-7 Va
5 years ago
My pears (Bartlett) snap off easily at almost any time while still hard as a baseball. I'm waiting for then to lighten up in color and to "give" at least a little bit when squeezed. Looking at your pics your pears are a much lighter green than mine so they may be ready to pick before getting overly ripe. It's the best pear season ever here and trees are loaded down so I have the option of cutting one open every couple of days to inspect the interior for signs of ripening.
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freedomeagle
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks. My pears are hard as a rock and this is the first season I've actually had to worry about picking them so I am a total newbie at this. Thanks for your input
0
freedomeagle
Original Author
5 years ago
By the pictures, do they look ripe? To check/confirm, should I just pic a hand full or so and put them in the refrigerator and see happens?
0
spartanapples
5 years ago
Freedom:

I grow Bartlett and Summercrisp pears. My bartletts are best when I pick them just as they turn from dark green to lighter green/yellow skin color. Yours in the photo look ripe enough to pick to me.

When picked at this green/ripe stage I can refrigerate them for a month and just take some out every few days to refill our fruit bowl on the table. They ripen up in about 3 days that way.

If I want to can them then I leave them in my bushel basket and put some newspapers over the top to trap the ethylene gas all ripe fruits give off. In 2-4 days the entire contents of my bushel are ripe. Just an FYI if you can pears, you want them a bit firmer than for fresh eating as they would be processed in a water bath. Canning pears that are too ripe result in very soft pears (mushy).

Leaving them on the tree to ripen too much can result in beautiful fruit that is rotten around the core.

I know how you feel. My brother in law and I share the pear crop and he yells at me every year that I am picking the pears too green. I always win that battle when they are just perfect to eat or can up a short time after picking. He picks his later and has to contend with rotten cores.
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