I sent this reply yesterday with a couple of pictures attached but it has not appeared yet, maybe Jon could check the apple-crop 'junk' folder? - here is the text without the pictures -
I've been growing asian pears for 20+ years now, but not in a high density situation - my planting is about 12' X 16' with open center trees - it has worked very well actually, the trees are readily maintained so that 95% of the fruit is accessed from the ground - I find the main difficulty in growing asian pears is thinning - it's all hand work so it's important to make it as easy as possible - 12' tall trees make it difficult - In the situation you describe I'd be considering removing every other tree, or maybe 2 out of 3 trees, so to be able to shorten and broaden the fruiting volume - Another consideration is variety selection - I had a row of Shinko and took them out - the flavor/sugar of that variety was markedly inferior to others of that season (Korean Giant/Olympic) at my location - Talking to my asian customers, these pears are used more for cooking than for fresh eating in pacific cultures - The best resource I have for asian pears is 'Guide Book of Nashi Production in Japan' by Kanichi Yaneyama/translated by Shinji Kawai and published by the Oregon Asian Pear Council in 1989 - I don't know about current availability - 75 pages with detailed discussion of pruning/thinning/management by variety with diagrams and pictures - David Doud grower, Indiana On Aug 1, 2014, at 10:12 AM, Weinzierl, Richard A wrote: > A new grower bought an Asian pear orchard that was planted a few years ago > north of Peoria, IL. Except for pollenizers, it’s all ‘Shinko’, and > apparently its resistance to fireblight is very good – I saw only one or two > infections in hundreds of trees. > > They have planted trees at very high density (4 feet in-row by 12 feet > between rows); the trees are at least 12 feet tall. Is anyone familiar > high-density production of Asian pears? And if so, do you have any pruning > recommendations? It’s obvious the density and prior pruning practices will > not work together. > > The fact sheets and similar references that I’ve seen suggest much lower tree > densities (218 to 242 trees per acre). > > Any general thoughts on managing the trees at high density … and what > spacing would you recommend for the additional plantings they intend to make? > > Rick Weinzierl > > Professor and Extension Entomologist > IL SARE PDP Coordinator > Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois > S-334 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Avenue > Urbana, IL 61801 > 217-244-2126 > > > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > [email protected] > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
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