DIY Network

Fighting Diseases and Pests Our pear expert shares tips for keeping pears healthy. From "Fresh From the Orchard" episode DFFO-109

Kelly Givens and pear expert Lester Davis go over the number-one disease problem of Asian pears: fire blight. They give helpful tips on how to keep fire blight at bay and on how to take care of the problem if it attacks one of your trees. They explain how properly fertilize and water pear trees, and Davis gives a hands-on demonstration of his favorite trick for keeping birds out of his orchard. Harvest time arrives, and he shows several tried-and-true ways to determine whether a pear is ripe. Some of his techniques will surprise you!

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Disease Management

Disease management should go on all year in any orchard. You should always try to prevent disease problems by using good cultural practices: selecting disease-resistant varieties, pruning and training properly, controlling weeds, etc. Note that our Asian pear expert, Lester Davis, finds Korean Giant to be the most disease-resistant variety he has ever grown.

In humid areas of the country where diseases are a particular problem, a spray program is a must if you want a good harvest. Check with your local extension agent to get a recommended spray program for pear growing in your area.

Fire blight is a common bacterial disease associated with apples, crabapples and pears (figure A). The primary symptom of fire blight is that the tips of branches suddenly turn black and brown, as if they had been scorched or burned (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

If you notice symptoms of fire blight, you should prune out and destroy the infected branches. Make pruning cuts 4" to 6" below the dead area of the branch, cutting into healthy wood; be sure to sterilize the pruning shears between each cut. At the base of the dead wood, there is a canker that oozes out the harmful bacteria, so it's important to destroy the prunings.

Bird Protection

Birds can pick at ripe fruit and ruin them (figure C); they can also eat the fruit before it develops. Lester Davis's favorite tactic is to throw surveyor's tape (available at any hardware store) up into the tree (figure D), which he says deters birds. He also finds plastic owls, particularly ones with bobble-heads, to be effective at keeping birds at bay (figure E).

Figure C

Figure D

Figure E

Harvesting

Depending on what part of the country you live in, harvest can begin as early as mid-July or as late as early October. The period of harvest usually stretches over a two- to three-week window.

Unlike European pears, which taste good only if they are ripened off the tree, Asian pears should always be allowed to ripen on the tree before being harvested (figure F). The best way to tell whether the pears are ready to harvest is the taste test: if they're sweet and juicy, they're ready. Another way to check for ripeness is to look at their seeds: they should be jet black, not brown (figure G).

Figure F

Figure G