This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Espalier Conference Pear
willowplanter
Posts: 16
in Fruit & veg
Can anyone help please. We have a three year old espalier Conference Pear which has produced good crops of pears over the last two years but this year all the buds are now starting to fall off except for about six. It had a good show of blossom during the mild warm spell in April and we had lots of bees about to pollinate and then we had some really cold nights. We did cover with fleece except on two night when we were away and wondered if this could this be the problem? The pear is on a wall that is in full sun for most of the day. Just before the fruit buds started to fall the pear has put on an unusual amount of growth and we do not know what the cause for this is either? All the foliage is healthy. Any suggestions gratefully received.
0
Posts
Hi Willowplanter
I have a Concorde pear planted 3 years ago as a maiden whip which is being trained as an espalier. I'm amazed that you have had fruit in earlier years. This is the first year mine has had blossom and I have picked off the fruit buds as I don't want to over-tax the plant while it's so young.
They used to say that 'You plant pears for your heirs' meaning that they usually take a good while to reach maturity and to crop well. Of course, with grafting onto rootstocks that limit growth, they reach maturity sooner now, but if your pear has put on a lot of growth I would imagine that it can't produce fruit as well and has sacrificed the crop in favour of growth.
Another thought is that it might be thirsty - the foot of a south-facing wall can a very dry place and we've had a remarkably dry spring (at least here in Norfolk). That would also have stressed the tree.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I don't think it will be lack of water as we have had more than our fair share in the Lake District and we did water during the dry week in April but I think you are right about the sacrifice of fruit for foliage. Never seen as much - it will need a good hair cut !! Thanks.
So that's where our share went to
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.