Not enough pollinators out at flowering time? No suitable companion variety to cross pollinate with?

Last year was the first year that I had the tree and it had lots of fruit then. (I thinned out the fruit then also.) I didn't think it needed another tree to cross pollinate, because I didn't have another tree last year. Should I buy another tree to cross pollinate with?

I noticed that clusters of the flowers had dried up and died. Is this normal or is there a problem?

Did you have a late frost or freeze during blooming time? That could wipe out fruit production, it happens here often when a warm winter turns into a cold spring. Keep an eye on those dried up blooms as they can be a starting point for Fire Blight and rapidly spread down the stems.

Most asian pears are technically self-fruitful, but you are going to be much better off with a second tree for pollination. If it flowered, i wouldn't think that thinning was an issue (i didn't think enough last year and had very limited flowering this year), so my guess is going to be pollination.

There are several other factors that can come into play, the pollinators in your area may have other food sources, and as such don't spend much time with the pear tree. crazy weather swings (get those all the time here in the midwest) could damage or kill blooms, and so on.

It's supposed to be a 20th Century pear. It had lots of flowers this year, so I thought there would be lots of fruit to thin. I guess I could get another tree to aid the pollination. Weather could have been a factor. I might wait and see how much fruit I get next year before buying another tree. What kind of tree should I get to cross pollinate? The Korean Giant is supposed to be a really nice tasting pear. Would it be a good cross pollinator?

I think vgkg has most likely identified your problem. Late freezing did the same on most of my Asian pears this year. The ovary (which is the part of the flower that develops into the fruit) can be killed by a freeze even before the flower bud has opened. The flowers may still go on to open but there will be no fruit development. The flowers may look perfectly normal to you unless you look closely. The petals and stamens will appear undamaged but the styles will be black instead of green. Korean Giant would be a good choice as a pollinator and it is among the better flavored for most people. It does have a russet skin unlike Twentieth Century, though, and ripens later.

Maybe the weather did hurt the blossoms. The weather did get cold off and on during that time. Will having another tree to pollinate help avoid weather related issues? It seems like it wouldn't help.

Thank you. It's good to know what to expect ahead of time.

If you google YouTube, how to graft pear, you can learn how to graft a few more pear varieties to your tree. No need to buy a whole new tree. Grafting pear may be one of the easiest fruit tree to graft.

Several nurseries sell scionwood. People in this forum could exchange scionwood with you. You can graft A pears to Euro pears ans vise versa. They also cross pollinate if they bloom about the same time.

Thank you. It"d be easier to plant another tree, but you never know. I don't think of myself having a very green thumb. Grafting is a good option to have when you don't have much space.