North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lee Reich <leeareich@gmail.com>]

Asian pears are relatively easy to grow. They vary in fire blight 
susceptibility. As I wrote in the Asian pear chapter of my book, Uncommon 
Fruits for Every Garden, 

"The ussurien pear is extremely cold-hardy, native to regions of Korea and 
northern China where the mercury might plummet to as low as minus sixty 
degrees Fahrenheit. The species generally does not produce high-quality 
fruits---they are usually juicy with some tartness and sweetness, but lack 
aroma and have many stone cells. The fruits are small and round. There are 
some good-tasting cultivars, though, such as ‘Ta-Shian-Sui-Li’, 
‘Chien-Pai-Li’, ‘Sian-Sui-Li’, and ‘An-Li’."

and 

"Fire blight disease can be as devastating to some Asian pear cultivars as it 
is generally to European pears. As implied by the name, infected plants look 
as if they have been singed with fire: The leaves turn black and remain 
attached, and the tips of succulent new stems curl over like shepherds’ 
crooks. One line of defense would be to plant disease-resistant cultivars 
such as ‘Shinko’, ‘Seuri’, and ‘Ya Li’, or almost any of the ussurien pears. 
Unfortunately, popular cultivars such as ‘Nijisseiki’, ‘Chojuro’, 
‘Shinseiki’, ‘Okusankichi’, ‘Seigyoku’, and ‘Kikusui’ are susceptible."

Asian pears are generally very precocious and bear heavily so often don't 
grow enough if on very dwarfing rootstocks. So use those rootstocks only 
where you want to really restrict size, and thin out fruits aggressively when 
the trees are young.


Lee Reich, PhD
Come visit my farmden at http://leereich.blogspot.com/
http://leereich.com/

Books by Lee Reich:
A Northeast Gardener's Year
The Pruning Book
Weedless Gardening
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
Landscaping with Fruit
Grow Fruit Naturally

On Sep 3, 2012, at 10:01 AM, Deb Schneider wrote:

> I really like Asian pears and really don't like spending $1.50 EACH for
> sub-par fruit in the grocery store.
> 
> How hard are Asian pears to grow?  Anyone know how they do in southern Ohio
> (zone 6)?  How susceptible to fireblight?  Any other diseases that hit
> Asian pears hard in this region?
> 
> What varieties and rootstocks do you recommend?
> 
> Thanks!
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