Pear Essentials

Food Gardening Guide → Fruit Gardening Guide for Pears

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• Choose fire blight-resistant varieties and rootstocks, especially in areas outside dry western regions.
• Most varieties will start to bear significant harvests after 5 to 6 years.
• Plant at least two different varieties for cross-pollination.

• Choose a site with full sun, moderate fertility, and good air circulation and water drainage.
• Pears will do well in a wide range of soil types.

• Space standard-size trees 20 to 25 feet apart; space dwarf trees 12 to 15 feet apart.

• Pears do best with a small amount of fertilizer early in the year. Heavy doses of nitrogen will make the tree more vulnerable to fire blight.
• Use spreaders to encourage horizontal branching and earlier fruiting spurs.
• See our article Fruit Pests and Diseases for controls of common pear pests such as pear psylla, codling moth, plum curculios, and fire blight.

• Don't let pears ripen on the tree. Harvest them when they reach a mature size but are still hard.
• Early pears will ripen at room temperature in a few days to a week. Storage varieties will keep 1 to 2 months or more in a cool (40° F), dark place.

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