walnut
Photos
Chicken simmered in broth and white wine,with lemon, crispy sage leaves, polenta chips with parmesan, and a salad of arugula , pear and candied walnuts.
Asian pear
Pyrus pyrifolia culta
Last edited by shiny on November 12, 2026. View history
Pear
Pyrus spp.
Also known as
pear tree (EN)
poire (EN)
poirier (EN)
pera (EN)
pereira (EN)
peral (EN)
Birne (EN)
Birnenbaum (EN)
How to sow pear: Transplant bare-root plant
Sun requirement for pear: Plant in Full Sun
Pears are fruiting trees or shrubs in the Pyrus genus, in the family Rosaceae. There are approximately 3000 varieties worldwide, and they are commonly divided into two major groups: European and Asian. European Pears are wider at the bottom and taper at the top. Asian Pears are shaped more like apples, and have a different texture and flavor. Most pear species are deciduous, but some in southeast Asia are evergreen. Pears are generally cold-hardy, surviving winter temperatures between -25 to -40°C. In the spring, they produce white (and sometimes, yellow or pink) flowers with 5 petals. Like apples, pears are propagated by grafting the selected variety onto a rootstock. More growing information is available in individual pear species entries.
- 8
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Pear facts
Lifespan
Perennial
living more than two years
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 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 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.
How members grow pears
Sunniness
Loading...
Planted from
Loading...
Varieties of pear
Plant pears with
Photos
Pear plantings
Video
Where pears grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about pears
sage
arugula
Swap/trade (Australia): want large planting containers, will swap for seedlings/seeds/preserves/baked goods/ginger beer
by Skud,
I'm in Thornbury, in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
Our landlords won't let us replace the lawn with a veg garden, so we can only plant in containers. I'm on my usual spring quest for largish containers, 30cm diameter and above. We especially love the old-style…
tomatoes
cucumbers
eggplants
pears
quinces
ginger
Read more
Who's planted pears
- bigblen Orchard · Rapaki Road,...
- Dan Rhubarb Views · Ballarat
- TerryW Back yard garden
- shadawyn Orchard
- shiny By the fence · Wellington, NZ
Pear harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your pear harvests.Find pear seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
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) |
Learn more about pears
Resources outside Growstuff.
