Scaper,
I've had Warren, grafted onto seedling P.communis rootstock, growing here for 10+ years. About 3 years ago, it produced three fruits. However, the other dozen or so pears planted on that side of the pond with it have not yet reached sufficient maturity to bloom - I'm hopeful that they'll do so this year. Unfortunately - and perhaps doomingly, my Warren and Magness trees are at the ends of the new pear rows, as far away from the pears in the original section of the orchard as one can get.
Warren and Magness are reputedly two of the very best quality pears available, though I'm not so sure that I'm gonna be impressed, as I prefer a firm, crisp pear - and I don't mind grit cells(I like Keiffer!). The prevailing response I've been seeing recently on the NAFEX discussion list suggest that Warren really needs to be on a quince rootstock, or you'll be waiting forever for it to fruit.
Additionally, from the NAFEX list archives: "Just like Magness, flowers of Warren appear to produce no pollen or nectar. Therefore, pollinating bees have NO reason to visit its flowers. So...a good pollenizer (and there are many) needs to be very close to Warren or Magness trees for fruit set."
I've recently seen NAFEX pear enthusiasts suggesting that rather than have a dedicated Warren tree, that you graft a branch of Warren here and there into other pears that have the potential to serve as pollenizers - that way, if, say, the bees are swarming around your Harrow Delight, they'll probably visit the flowers on the branch of Warren you've fostered on there, whereas if you've got a free-standing Warren tree, it may get neglected.

Hope this helps.
Lucky

Here is a link that might be useful: NAFEX Southern Pear Interest Group

Thanks for responses guys.

To Eskota: I have Moonglow and I'll bet you will love it. It is a good quality pear. Here in C. Tex some years when we have a warm winter the bloom and crop may be a little light but you won't have that problem up there. Another good pear is Ayers. It is very, very good in my opinion and seems fireblight resistant here at least. It can be a bit on the high chill side here but again it would likely fruit great for you in north Texas. Good luck with your Warren.

To Lucky: I have a Warren that I grafted to Quince last year and I will plant it sometime this year. I love the idea of grafting branches into other trees. I have read other threads in this forum were it sounds like people have done some similiar things with pluots and other fruits. I wonder if a dwarf tree or an espalliered tree could be hand pollinated. I bet this could be made to work. By the way do you have Green Jade pear? Ive heard it is crunchy and sweet.

Thanks,
Scaper

Thanks for the info Lucky!

Perhaps it is only apparent that the Warren Pear have scored high for fireblight resistance because it has been avoiding it. Without the bees visiting the poor flowers, there would be minimal chances of having an infection. The fact that it doesn't have nectar could also mean that the bacteria has no sugary pool of water to multiply and infect the branch. So it could be these very reasons why Warren Pear is observed to be fireblight resistant.

A true test of fireblight resistance is to innoculate the tree with the bacteria within its active cambium layer. If it is able to prune itself of the infection or able to shake it off with minimal damage, then that is true fireblight resistance.

Yeah,
If they don't bloom fireblight risk will be minimal won't it. The thing is we have a fair amount of pollinators in my area as far as I know and most other pear varieties get fruited up just fine. It is just Warren that does not apparentely. I think it is just as Lucky said they offer no benefit to the bees so I wonder if hand pollination may be a possible solution to get some fruit.

Scaper

My Warren branch is literally surrounded by other pears, the flowers almost kissing each other and there would be no need for pollinators. A gentle breeze would let pollination occur. There is a nice bloom overlap with Spalding, Turnbull Giant, Comice, Kieffer, Duchess and other European pears. So, I should have some fruits. I will see how many fruits will set on that one branch.

Joe Real,
Thant sounds like a great set up. Please keep us updated as to how the Warrens do this season.

Thanks,
Scaper

Will post pics sometime soon. I'm hoping to get good fruit sets but let us see what will really happen. that would be a month from now.

Joe Real,
What is your opinion of the Spalding pear? Is it any good? I have heard various reports on its quality.

Thanks,
scaper

I have three good branches of Spalding pear on three different trees that are loaded with blooms. It would still take a while before I can taste them and comment about it. Many other pears too. I'll try to taste test them.

How do you store the pears and then let them ripen at the same time for a much better comparison in taste test? Some would require a little bit of stratification to bring out their flavors.

I usually harvest pears if when you lift the fruits horizontally and they snap off, that's when they are ready for refrigerator storage. I would then ripen them after at least one week of storage. I might store all of them longer so that I can ripen them at the same time but I don't know if this will work very well.

Joe Real,
I ripen all of my euros and my my oriental hybrids the same way as you it sounds like. When they break easily from the spur(usually in August here) I store them in the crisper drawer or shelf in my fridge for a week or two and then ripen until soft. One of my pears, a Moonglow, seems to need at least two weeks and sometimes a month in the fridge before its best flavor comes out. Orient seems to improve by leaps and bounds with longer term storage.

I like your idea of storing them all and ripening some of them at the same time for a true taste test. I may try that this year as well.

Thanks,
Scaper

Scaper,

I had a warren pear I planted at least 12 years ago and I never got anything but two tiny pears. It never seemed to bloom so this summer I cut it down. I am now starting over and renovating my entire yard to be an edible landscape.
Because it is small I want to conserve space and I am interested in learning about grafting since I can't seem to find fruit already grafted on to dwarf root stock. I noticed that scaper is in Austin and I was hoping I could learn something from you about this practice. I don't even know where you would acquire the dwarf root stock for grafting. The Travis County Extension Service has a fairly good reference on which root stocks work best for our area but I have discovered when you go out to purchase fruit and citrus trees they don't bother to tell you what the root stock is. It seems to me this is just as important as knowing the variety you are purchasing. Texas has so many different soils that the root stock for East Texas is going to be totally different than what we need in Central Texas.
I also plan to try the practice of espalier to conserve space but I still think it will help to try dwarf root stock especially for the trees I plan to put in the middle of the yard. I would appreciate any help or advice you could give.
---Kim

Id be glad to help you. I have had some really great people teach me to graft and I would be glad to teach you how to. I can also tell you of some great sources for rootstocks and plants. Hit me with an email at wildscaper@hotmail.com offlist and I will tell you how to contact me.

By the way since we have this topic revived, Joe Real how has your Warren done? What of the Spaulding? Thanks for any info.

Thanks guys,
Scaper

Hi all,

Am new to the forum and saw info about warren pears. I was wondering when to harvest them. I had grafted a branch onto my multigraft pear tree about 3 years ago, which is on a Quince rootstock. The first year after grafting I did not get any, the second year I think I had 2 or three and this year I have the branch weighed down with 9 pears!

Last year I don't remember harvesting at the right time or maybe I didn't put them in the refrigerator after harvesting like you are suggesting, so I want to try and do it correctly this year so I can really have some good pears to eat. The birds are starting to peck them... I did pull three off and they seemed to snap off easily. The three I snapped off had gotten large.

Any suggestions? The others I left are a bit smaller, but I'm wondering if the birds will start to peck more of them if I don't harvest the rest soon.

Thank you

Beccamae in California

When the birds start pecking, especially at the area around the stem, you can suspect they are ripe or approaching ripeness. Try gently lifting the least green fruit into the horizonatal position and see if they come off. If not, wait a week and try again. Obviously, if you are going to lose them to birds and they are close to ripe, pick them.
I need 50 Warren Pears on Quince rootstock, does anyone know a nursery that might have them? Fowler Nursery in California had them last year, but doesn't this year.
My young Spalding Pear tree had uninteresting fruit, so at least under coastal central California conditions, I would avoid it. I'm grafting it over.
I care for 50 Warren Pear trees on OHxF333. With excellent fertility, they are taking their time to come into bearing, perhaps 20 lbs per tree at 8th leaf. Warren seems immune to fireblight, we had a terrible year, very damaging to everything except Warren, and to a lesser degree Seckel and Harrow Delight. Rescue, Ubileen and Comice seriously damaged, into scaffold limbs.
Different location Warren on OHxF333 in less fertile soil, 8th leaf, 60 to 80 lbs per tree. Everywhere Warren is extremely vigourous.

I am also (apparently) in terencewel's location of coastal central California, and my Warren pear on OHxF333 started bearing in its fourth summer. It's now on its seventh, and I get more fruit every year. If it ever gets to 60 or 80 pounds I will be quite pleased!

My Warren in Berkeley, California, is about 12 years old. This year, for the first time, I hand fertilized it with a q-tip. It didn't help. The tree has always been vigorous, is large, never has blight, and rarely fruits. My Seckel gets blight, but less than my other pears.

i need advice...I am a beginner,i planted 5 pears bare rootstock,i planted them 8 feet apart in a single row,they are as follows in order,harrow delight,warren,harrow delight,moonglow,warren,there I planted 5 pear trees,will they pollinize and work out fine?

Do you know what rootstocks your peras are on? I think 8 ft apart is too close. You really need to prune them well to keep them small when planting that close.

As long as those pears' flowering time overlap, they will pollinate one another.. The Harrow series, Harrow Delight, Harrow Sweet, Harvest Queen, are likely to flower and fruit much sooner (3-4 years). Warren is known to be a shy bearer and takes a long time 10 years or more to fruit.

There are several good pears. Not sure why you planted two Warren and two Harrow Delight. Harrow Sweet and Harvest Queen both are better choice than Harrow Delight, in my opinion.

I live in zone 9B so I was restricted by weather to pick ones that produce in that climate? as far as rootstock they were all bare root...is that what you mean?

how far apart would you have planted them? oi can re plant them

what are your thoughts on the moonglow?

No, rootstocks do not mean bareroots. It means the type of a tree a named variety of pear is grafted on. Pear trees that are sold are grafted on to rootstocks. The popular rootstock is OHxF. Rootstocks help fruit trees be more tolerant to disease and soil type. More importantly, rootstocks determine how tall trees will grow. They are usually divided into dwarf, semi- dwarf and standard.

Google Pear rootstocks at Cummins Nursery, it gives good info for you.

if your trees are on dwarf rootstocks, they can be planted 8 ft apart, semi-dwarf 12 ft apart, standard 15 ft apart. That is why it is important to know a rootstock. When in doubt, put them at least 12-15 ft apart.

I don't grow southern pears but from what I have read from those I trust, varieties such as Ayers, Pineapple, Maxine have good disease resistance and eating quality. Moonglow's eating quality suffers in warmer zone like yours.

I should be able to let everybody know in a few years. I planted a Warren, Moon Glow, Ayers, Kieffer, Orient, and Pineapple Pear. I wanted a variety and to see which ones do the best. I finally got the Orient and the Kieffer established good so I should start getting pretty good pears next year from them. I got a few off each tree this year.

ok,i spent my motning moving them apart...they are 16 feet apart now its the best I could do givin the spave avail

You said you bought the trees barerooted. Didn't the nusery tell you what rootstocks your trees are on? Most of the time, a tree tag lists a variety and a roostock. A Dwarf rootstock tends to produce sooner than a standard rootstock.

ooooooh,ok there was 2 tags on them,il go look outside tomorrow and see!

OHxF333 is the rootstocks on all of them,i finally moved them apart 16 feet,they are as follows harrow delight,harrow delight,warren,warren,moonglow (I did plant an ULTRA dwarf Bartlett between the 2 harrow delights though)

As long as those varieties have bloom times that overlap, you'll be fine. You should be fine with that rootstock. If I were to choose between a Harrow Delight and a Harrow Sweet pear, I'll go with the latter any day.

Per the trusted Cummins Nursery;

OHxF333 A semi-dwarfing pear rootstock. It is 1/2 to 2/3 standard size. Its resistance to fireblight, collar rot, woolly pear aphids and pear decline make this a very healthy stock. Precocious, well-anchored. Trees are very productive. Some reports that fruit size is reduced .

ok,very good! thankyou so much!

Update to my 2011 comments about Warren: We are pulling the original 50 trees of Warren/OHxF333, as our 7.8 pH has made them too chlorotic to fruit well. However, we have planted 200 Warren/Quince, and they are showing almost no signs of iron induced chlorosis. Last year, they had 0-10 fruit, this year, they had 5-20 fruit, all in the very lowest portion of the canopy where flowers had developed. The fruit were HUGE. We alternate rows of "fireblight resistant" varieties, so Warren is always next to another variety for pollination purposes. Sunrise is proving itself to be relatively to fireblight resistant in our climate, and a good substitute for Bartlett. Sundown got some firebight, we won't plant more of it. Seckel gets some fireblight, and hates the high pH, we will pull it out. Blake's Pride seems resistant, but we haven't figured out how to get high quality fruit from it. Potomac and Shenandoah got small amounts of fireblight, but have an unidentified problem, perhaps fungal, which causes the skins to be disfigured. Anybody know what that is? At another nearby ranch here in Central California, Warren is planted in a flood plain, several inches of free standing water after winter storms. As the season progresses into summer, the water recedes, and eventually by midsummer the soil starts drying out, and by the end of summer is dry enough to start to stress the tree. Warren on 333 BLOOMS AND FRUITS HEAVILY under these conditions. Obviously, stressing a tree has to be done very carefully.