No pears this year, not sure why

6 years ago

Central MN Zone 4. I have 10 pear trees that are 4-6 years old (Summercrisp, Red Clapps, Gourmet). Last year was the 1st time I got a significant number of pears. I pruned aggressively at the end of last winter as the trees growth is very vertical. This year none of the trees have any fruit. We did have a late and cold spring but no late frosts. Apple harvest was also off with some trees with no fruit but some of that I attribute to an extraordinarily good harvest last year. Plums were also off.

Looking for insight on causes. Tree growth is still very vertical so pruning will be heavy again this winter.

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

mark in MN

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

6 years ago

If fruit production was very low with all your fruit trees, my first thought would be lack of active pollinators when the trees were flowering. Most fruit trees tend to bloom early in spring before normal pollinators - honey and bumble bees - are very active. Especially in colder and wet spring climates. Planting fruit trees with other heavily flowering spring blooming plants can help to attract pollinators but you might need to encourage mason bees. Mason bees are some of the most valuable pollinators for fruit growers as they are very active very early. You may want to check with your county extension service for info on how to encourage these early pollinators and even where to purchase them to establish your own mason bee populations.

I would also caution against severe pruning. Pear trees tend to grow more vertically than spreading.....that is their natural growth habit. And they will flower and bear fruit on second year growth and spurs so radical or severe pruning could easily remove a lot of flower bud set and therefore fruit. Only remove up to 25% of the branching at a single time....and I would tend to keep it less than that.......15-20%.

Pruning fruit trees is a combination of science and art. It is not a random cutting back to keep a a convenient height. Many nurseries and extension offices will offer free classes on fruit tree pruning and that would be worth looking into to make sure you are pruning correctly to get the best from your trees.

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Comments (7)

John D Zn6a PIT Pa
6 years ago
Is it possible that you had a late frost. You say no, but possibly in your orchard you did, but didn't notice.

There are pear pollination group lists which you can google. I checked the list at Raintree Nursery but their list doesn't include your varieties. I checked at the USDA site.

They say the Summercrisp was developed at the University of Minnesoata and is cold hardy to Alaska, They don't list the Red Clapps, possibly spelling? They list the Gourmet, which they say was "Originated at South Dakota State University, Brookings". They claim the Gourmet first blooms day 99, full bloom on day 102 and last bloom on day 109 at I'm guessing Corvallis OR. What I was looking for was a comparison of blooming dates but they list this data for the one variety only.

Try google.
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Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for comments. I was already considering the cool wet spring and the resulting impact on pollinator activity as the primary cause. I'll be setting up some mason bee houses next spring and maintaining them going forward.
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
6 years ago
Did you notice if they bloomed at all in the spring?
spartanapples
6 years ago
Older:

I have pears in southern Wisconsin. Mine bloomed heavily yet when petal fall came I was dismayed at the poor fruit set. I have Bartlett and Summercrisp. I had a very minimal crop this year on both. We had no frost during bloom so I have no explanation for my low yield. My apples are just loaded this year (way too many as it was a chore to thin them all in late June).

We were very wet during bloom time this year.

I hear you on the vertical growth of pears. I decided just to live with it. Excessive pruning when I tried it only seemed to encourage more vigorous upright growth the following year. I finally reduced how heavily I prune my pears and slowing they have gotten wider. Still very upright but better. I am happy with mine as they slowly widened out over the years. It took time. With pears one needs patience.
HighColdDesert
6 years ago
About pruning, there's a French and Quebec system of shaping fruit trees that sounds very convincing to me. They recommend pulling branches down to horizontal or lower, rather than pruning. They say it prevents that flush of suckers that pruning can promote, and makes a better shaped tree sooner, and more productive.
John B
6 years ago
Probably mother nature , late frost or lack of pollinators like others suggest ... because the problem was across the board. Still curious as to whether you did some healthy thinning last year early on to control fruit production ... if your trees had a bumper crop, could be an alternate bearing scenario ... other thought was fertilization ... are you confident that the trees have or were provided the proper nutrients, especially p-k and calcium plus trace/minors ??? Are they mulched ? Irrigated or supplement watered during dry spells ? Also agree that hanging weights or tying down branches to train them horizontal is a great technique to increase production and tree health, more air flow, more sun, more fruit, etc...