Long-term Performance of Asian Pear Trees in Maryland

Three Asian pear plantings were set during the past decade. Plantings included an initial cultivar planting on OH × F rootstock, the SE Zonal planting, and a rootstock by cultivar factorial. Fireblight susceptibility and survival were assessed in the first two plantings following a summer hailstorm. Trees were compared to Magness, a blight-tolerant buttery pear. Shin Li, Daisu Li, Shinsui, and Olympic were more resistant than Magness, while Chojuro and Niitaka were nearly as tolerant. Eleven other cultivars showed greater field-susceptibility. The most-susceptible cultivars were Ya Li and Ts'e Li. The third planting, which was managed “organically,” was set at a different University farm. Trees there were precocious and productive. A high percentage of marketable fruit was picked from that planting over a 4-year period. Fireblight damage in this planting was low, despite its “organic” production. Limited damage was attributed to early bloom date, ground cover management, and a lack of insect vectors to transmit the bacteria. Hosui, Seuri and Ts'e Li produced large-sized fruit. Shinko, 20th Century, Ya Li and Shinseiki fruit were too small to be marketable without heavy hand-thinning. Asian pears are an interesting alternative crop which are suited to direct-market enterprises or to specialty growers interested in producing organic fruit in the mid-Atlantic region.