Here is the larger of the two remaining pears. It is about 25% bigger, now.
{{gwi:119444}}

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I picked the pear on Aug 21.