How To Choose A Variety And Grow A Pear Tree That Gives Tasty And Healthy Fruits (part 1)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Ay, yes pear! What a marvel - both blush and beautiful

Pear is one of the most popular horticultural crops, perhaps the second after the apple tree. Its best varieties are highly valued for their taste, originality of aromas and attractive appearance. "What kind of fruit - it tastes good and looks like a light bulb ?!" - says the children's riddle. And this is not at all accidental: pear is a favorite delicacy of children.

It is valuable as a source of easily digestible carbohydrates, organic acids, P-active substances and vitamin C. Pear is widely used in folk medicine as a fixative, diuretic, disinfectant and antitussive agent. Due to the presence of arbutin in it, pear is useful for the treatment and prevention of kidney and urinary tract diseases.

To grow

a pear tree, care and attention will be required no less than when growing an apple tree, and, perhaps, more, given its attitude to the vagaries of the weather. Yet it is grown in the Northwest of Russia. It is known that at one time in the harsh north, where bad rocky land and cold - on the Solovetsky Islands - the monks successfully grew delicious pears.

Now in the world there are

more than five thousand varieties of pears, but there are still no good winter varieties. The basis of the assortment of pears in backyard gardens is made up of Central Russian varieties - Autumn Bergamot, Tonkovotka, Bessemyanka and Limonka. At present, the assortment is expanding in the North-West of our country, new varieties are gradually being introduced.

If you want to successfully grow pears on your site, select varieties, treat the soil correctly, use organic and mineral fertilizers rationally, take timely care of trees, and protect them from pests and diseases.

Both the apple tree and the pear in the gardens are looked after in the same way, however, taking into account some of the characteristics of the pear. If you decide to grow a pear, then be patient. While the trees are young, their productivity is low, and they do not bear fruit every year. The yield increases with the age of the pear.

Pear varieties

Here are the most common varieties recommended for home gardens in the Northwest region.

Early ripening varieties

Space. A vigorous tree with a wide-spreading or wide-pyramidal crown. The fruit is cuboid-shaped with a greenish-yellow skin with a slight blush. This pear begins to bear fruit 5-7 years after planting. High-yielding variety with average winter hardiness.

Thin line. A powerful tree with a pyramidal and wide-pyramidal crown shape. The fruit is pear-shaped with a greenish-yellow skin and a long, curved peduncle.

The tree begins to bear fruit in 7-10 years after planting. The variety is winter-hardy. Fruits, leaves and shoots are heavily affected by scab.

Commemorative … Summer variety. A vigorous tree with a pyramidal crown. The fruit is barrel-shaped or blunt-conical. The skin is golden yellow with a slight red blush. The variety is winter-hardy, fruitful. Scab resistance of fruits and leaves is high.

Medium ripening varieties

Autumn bergamot. The tree is powerful with a reverse pyramidal crown. The fruit is flat-rounded. The skin is yellowish green with rusty dots and a dull, dark red blush. Average winter hardiness. Leaves and fruits are highly susceptible to scab.

Seedless. Medium to large tree with a wide pyramidal crown. The fruit is short-pear-shaped with a slightly widened base and small tuberous projections. The skin is greenish yellow. The tree begins to bear fruit in 6-8 years after planting. Winter hardiness is relatively good. In wet years, leaves, fruits and shoots are heavily affected by scab.

Dessert rossoshanskaya

… New early autumn variety. The tree is medium-sized with a wide-pyramidal crown. The fruit is round or flat-round. The skin is greenish-yellow with a raspberry-red blush. The tree begins to bear fruit in 4-6 years. Average winter hardiness. The yield is high and regular. Fruits and leaves are scab resistant.

Elegant Efimova. New variety, vigorous tree with a pyramidal crown. The fruit is regular, elongated, pear-shaped. The skin is greenish-yellow with a spectacular bright carmine blush. It begins to bear fruit in 4-6 years after planting. Average winter hardiness. The yield is annual. Fruits and leaves are scab resistant.

Parshin's memory … New grade. A tree with a narrow pyramidal crown. The fruit is short pear-shaped. The skin is greenish-yellow with a blurred blush. The plant has good winter hardiness. The yield is average. Scab resistance of fruits and leaves is high.

Subject. The tree is vigorous with a broad-pyramidal or rounded crown. The fruit is broadly pear-shaped. The skin is light yellow with a faint orange-red blush. Begins fruiting 4-6 years after planting. High winter hardiness, self-fertile variety, gives regular harvests. The variety is scab resistant.

Late ripening varieties

Yakovlev's favorite. Vigorous tree with a sparse pyramidal crown. The fruit is double-conical, slightly ribbed. The skin is greenish yellow with a dark red blush. The tree begins to bear fruit in 4-7 years after planting. Average winter hardiness. The yield is annual. In wet years it is affected by scab.

Marble. The tree is medium-sized with a pyramidal crown. The fruit is wide-conical. The skin is greenish-yellow with an orange-red blush. Average winter hardiness. The yield is high. The pear is scab resistant.

New Year … The tree is medium-sized with a highly rounded shape. The fruit is pear-shaped, slightly ribbed. The skin is greenish yellow. It starts bearing fruit 5-8 years after planting. The only winter variety released in the Non-Black Earth Zone. Winter hardiness is high. The yield is high. Scab attack is average.

Promising varieties

Early ripening varieties

Lada. Summer variety. The tree is medium-sized with a conical crown. The fruit is reverse ovate, below average. The skin is light yellow. It begins to bear fruit 3-5 years after planting. Winter hardiness is high. Regular yield is not affected by scab.

Chizhovskaya. New summer variety. The tree is medium-sized with a conical crown. The fruit is obovate, below average size (up to 100 g). The skin is light yellow without blush. Begins fruiting 3-4 years after planting. Winter hardiness is high. The yield is regular. Scab is not affected.

Aamiseppa 13. Estonian variety. The tree is medium-sized with a wide-pyramidal crown. The fruit is small. The skin is yellowish green. Average winter hardiness. The variety is scab resistant.

Medium ripening varieties

Leningradskaya. The tree is vigorous with a broad-pyramidal crown. The fruit is cuboid-shaped. The skin is yellowish green. It starts bearing fruit for 5-6 years. Average winter hardiness. In wet summers it is affected by scab. Forest beauty. Belgian variety. The tree is vigorous with a conical crown. High frost resistance. The fruit is blunt-conical. The skin is golden yellow with a bright blush on the lighted side. The pulp is sweet with an almond flavor. It begins to bear fruit in 6-7 years, seedlings grafted on dwarf rootstocks (quince, irge, mountain ash) - for 4-5 years.

Bears fruit abundantly and annually. Strongly affected by scab.

Otradnenskaya … The tree is below average growth with an irregularly rounded oval crown. Often lays skeletal branches at an acute angle, so they break off under the weight of the fruit. The fruit is biconical or round. The skin is yellowish green with a red blush. Begins fruiting in 4-5 years. Does not freeze even in severe winters. High scab resistance, eliminating the need for spraying.

Pushkinskaya. Medium-sized tree with a spreading crown and weeping branches. The fruit is round-ovoid. The skin is yellowish green with a blush. It begins to bear fruit for 5-6 years. Winter hardiness and productivity are high. Scab resistant.

Bright

(creeping plant). The tree is medium-sized with a drooping, spreading crown. Fruit weight - up to 105 g. The skin is greenish-yellow with a red-brown blush. High winter hardiness, the variety is resistant to scab. It starts bearing fruit for 5-6 years.

Bere Lutsa (Estonia). The tree is powerful with a wide-pyramidal crown. The fruit is cuboid-shaped. The skin is greenish yellow. It begins bearing fruit 7-8 years after the pass. Average winter hardiness. In wet summers it is affected by scab.

Fields. The variety was obtained by A. M. Lukashev in the Khabarovsk Territory. This is a hybrid of Finnish early yellow and local Ussuri pear. It is in production in the West Siberian region of Russia.

The tree is tall with a narrow-pyramidal dense and strongly leafy crown, winter-hardy. Begins to bear fruit in the 5th year after planting. Good yield, high scab resistance. The fruits are harvested in the first half of September. Medium-sized pears (100 g), blunt-conical shape.

The skin color is matte, the surface is rough, yellow-green in color with small superficial dots. The pulp is white, fine-grained, crumbly, the taste is sweet and sour, astringent, bitter.

Late ripening varieties

Bere winter Michurina. Medium-sized tree, strongly leafy with a rounded crown. The fruit is wide pear-shaped, weighing from 150 to 250 g. The skin is green matte. Becomes fruiting at 7-8 years. Average winter hardiness. The yield is high. The variety is scab resistant.

To be continued →

Tamara Barkhatova

Photo by E. Valentinov