Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Deborah1 on June 27, 2020, 21:06

Title: Pear fruit thinning, what to do
Post by: Deborah1 on June 27, 2020, 21:06

Hello. I need to thin the fruitlets on my pear trees - Louise Bonne de Jersey, Comice and Conference. I’m never brutal enough so end up with lots of tiddlers. This year I’m going to be ruthless.
Can anyone identify what the problems are on these two trees? Shall I just remove any that show any blemish ( even though they might be the biggest) and leave the ‘clean’ ones?

Title: Re: Pear fruit thinning, what to do
Post by: Gardener and Rabbit on June 28, 2020, 10:47

It looks like pear scab.  If you leave the blemished fruits to develop they're normally fine for immediate use but won't keep long as the cracking lets in rot.

If you dispose of any blemished fruit that you thin, and also the fallen leaves in the Autumn - don't compost them - that will help reduce the annual cycle of re-infection.

G&R