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Last edited on February 20, 2020. View history

Asian pear Asian Pear

A variety of pear

How to sow Asian pear: Transplant bare-root plant

Sun requirement for Asian pear: Plant in Full Sun

The Asian Pear tree is species of deciduous tree native to East Asia. It is also grown in India, Australia, and the United States. They can be divided into two main cultivar groups: 1) the Akanashi, or 'Russet pears,' group, which has yellowish-brown rinds, and 2) the Aonashi, or 'Green pears' group, which has yellow-green rinds.

The fruit ranges from 3-10cm in diameter and has a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture. It is often eaten raw. Unlike European pears, which can be harvested before fully ripened, Asian Pears must tree-ripen for optimum flavor and sweetness.

The trees produce white hermaphrodite flowers in the spring. Although partially self-pollinating, Asian Pears benefit from having a cultivar planted nearby. Trees produce fruit by their second or third year. Fruit should be thinned to 1 fruit per cluster or every 15cm.

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Asian pear facts

Lifespan

Perennial living more than two years

Height × spread

750cm × 600cm

Row Spacing

600cm
Optimal temperature 20–35 °C
Absolute temperature 10–37 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 600–900 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 400–2100 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5.5–6.5
Absolute soil pH 4.5–8.3
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

180–270 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

2000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For Asian pear, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 3150 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Asian pear will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

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Time to harvest

If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 to 270 days.

From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Pyrus communis L.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Rosidae
Rosales
Rosaceae
Killing temperature growth: -9 °C, rest: -34 °C
Life form tree
Life span perennial
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture heavy, medium
Optimal soil fertility moderate
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)

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