Last edited on November 02, 2026. View history
Red Bartlett Pear
A variety of pear
How to sow red Bartlett pear: Transplant bare-root plant
Sun requirement for red Bartlett pear: Plant in Full Sun
Red Bartlett pears emerged as a naturally occurring variety (known as a 'sport') of the species Pyrus communis or European Pear. They have since been cultivated. Bartlett pears have a bell shape and skin that turns red as it ripens after harvest. Both Red and Green Bartlett pears are medium-sized and juicy with soft flesh. They can be eaten fresh, baked, or canned. Bartlett pears are not as cold tolerant as other varieties. Their white blooms open early in the season and they are ready to harvest in late summer or early fall. The pear should still be relatively hard when picked. After harvest, pears take 7-10 days to ripen, during which time their flesh will soften and the skin will change to a deep crimson. Bartlett pears are not self-fertile. They require pollination by a pear tree of another variety with the same bloom period within 50 feet, such as Bosc. Standard and dwarf rootstocks are available. Standard sized trees can grow to 6 meters. Depending on the size chosen, the tree will bear fruit within 4-6 years of planting.
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Red bartlett pear facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
300cm × 85cmRow Spacing
300cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
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 red Bartlett 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 red Bartlett 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.
Plant red Bartlett pears with
chives
green bean
german chamomile
sweet alyssum
Video
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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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