North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Bob Hartman <hartmansfruittrees@wport.com>]

Thanks Derry.  I appreciate your response and that of Lucky.  I have been 
using these types of suggestions for
the last 25 to 30 years and have been successful with most varieties, 
Bartlett, Sirrine, Aurora, Harrow Delight,
and others.  I have read this same flyer that you refer to from WSU.  I am 
wondering if others have had
experiences with Clapps Favorite which I have had problems with and the new 
one to me, Ubileen, or other
varieties that present problems in ripening.  Obviously not all late 
summer/fall pears are equal.

The late ripening pears or Winter pears are in a different class as to 
treatment for ripening since most all
require cold storage before ripening.

Thanks again,
Bob
Western Washington (Puget Sound Area)

derry&bill wrote:

> Washington State U has a flyer 'When to Pick Pears' and they give picking 
> dates
> for Western Washington for most years (two dates: one for south and one for 
> north
> of WA).
>
> The handout says "every few days as you approach the harvest period listed, 
> give
> the pears the 'lift test'. Putting your index finger on the stem, lift the 
> pear
> from the normal vertical orientation to a horizontal position perhaps with a
> slight twist. If the fruit 'snaps' off cleanly between the stem and the 
> twig, the
> pears are ready to strip from the tree. If you have to wrench off the fruit 
> either
> breaking the twig or the fruit stem, the fruit is probably not ready. On 
> larger
> trees, fruit growing in the top often ripens earlier than fruit growing in 
> the
> shaded interior.
> Certian late-ripening pears (Anjou, Bosc, Comice) may not ripen properly if 
> just
> picked off the tree and allowed to ripen naturally. These varieties, 
> particularly
> Anjou, need 3-4 weeks of storage at 32-45°F. Some kind of wrapping is good 
> to
> reduce shrivelling.
>
> Asian pears ripen on the tree. When they taste good, pick them."
>
> Derry
>
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> Derry Walsh & Bill Chase
> wchase@interchange.ubc.ca
> Aldergrove,  B. C.,  Canada
> phone/fax (604) 856-9316
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> Home web page  http://www.interchange.ubc.ca/wchase/HTML
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>
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