Hi, this is my first visit/post. I planted a Superfin European Pear tree 7 years ago. The semi-dwarf tree is now 10-12 feet tall, well shaped, and has never been bothered by disease or insects. However, it has NEVER had a single flower. Any ideas on what might be wrong or how I can jump start this pear tree into production ??
Did you only plant 1 tree? Fruit trees need to be planted in 2 or more to get flowers and fruit. There needs to be cross pollination.
Some European pears need 10 years before they start blooming. Asian pears usually begin to fruit much earlier (in less than 5 years). I planted two Asian pear trees last year and they both bloomed heavily this spring. Becuase they are still very young so I removed all small fruits to make them grow better for coming years. European pears need pollinator to turn flowers into fruits, but pollinator is not required for flowering. Some Asian pear (e.g. Shinko) are self pollinating but still, cross pollinating will do a much better job than self pollinating. European pears are good pollinators to Asian pears. But timing is very important. Many kinds of asian pears cannot pollinate to each other because they bloom in differnt times for differnt variaties. If you don't have space for multiple trees, you can choose a 4 in 1, 3 in 1, or 2 in 1 pear tree in which multiple variaties are grafted in a single rootstock. Pear trees with cross pollination can set too many fruits and you must remove most of them to permit the remainder to grow up in proper size and to prevent branch brekage. Considering this fact, some Asian pear tree will do just fine even without a pollinator when it has only 15% self-fertile rate. You can try to cut back a little on long branches in late August, which may induce a few flowering spurs to form for the coming year. Some pear trees require a certain period of chill time. If you live in a tropic area, you probably get very little winter chill, which could be part of the problem.
Thanks for the reply. I'll add some info I did not in my original post. I live in Zone 5, so definitely not a lack of winter issue. I also have in the same cluster of trees a Moonglow Pear, two Asian Pears and 3 Bradford Pears. All flower every year and bear fruit. The Asian Pears starting bearing the 2nd season, while the Moonglow waited until season 4. This is the 8th winter/spring for the Superfin tree, but never had a single flower. I have pruned it lightly just for general shape and openness, but will try more aggressive pruning if that will help. Thanks again for the info.
