How to Manage Pests

Thinning pears

Pears rarely require thinning except under very heavy crop loads. Even then the thinning is not severe. An exception is the Asian pear, which often requires heavy thinning. Generally, if the scaffold limbs of young bearing trees are splitting under the fruit load, tie them up with a strap or rope early in the season to prevent injury. If the crop set is very heavy, remove small and blemished fruit a few weeks before harvest. If you are required to thin, leave about 6 inches between the fruiting clusters, keeping one or two of the largest fruit per cluster. Thinning should be done to allow a closer spacing near the base of the branch and a wider spacing near the tip. This is done to avoid having the branches bend or break from too much weight.

Remove small and blemished fruit