I know this is completely subjective, but does anyone around Pennsylvania have an opinion on growing a Harrow Sweet Pear or a Seckel. I only have room for one more pear tree. I am in zone 7. I have a Starking Delicious and a Stark bro. Barlett/Red Sensation planted already. I have no idea how to graft (but hope to learn soon).
My current thought would be to plant the Harrow Sweet, then once Iearn graft a Seckel onto it or the Starking.?
Any thoughts and or opinions would be appreciated.
They are both good pears, but Harrow Sweet would probably be more valuable in terms of bearing when nothing you have is. Seckel bears pretty close to Bartlett- HS is much later and keeps a long time when picked hard-ripe. It is also more pest resistant- including stink bugs, fireblight, pear psyla and scab.
Perfect, I’m sold, Alan, you were the one that turned me on to it in the first place! Let me ask another question… I have a New Century Asian pear with 11 pears. Fruit should ripen in late August. My wife and family are making me leave my suburban orchard to go down the shore for three days. Do you think I should pick the fruit early or just hope the squirrels don’t get them while I’m gone?
I never pick a fruit before its time- well I may fudge a day or two. Anyway, Asian pears ripen on the tree and if they don’t have good sugar when you pick them they never will. If they are sweet you can pick them- otherwise leave them. Nothing worse than a sugarless A. pear. Their calling card is high sugar- not aromatics.
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Does your Starking Delicious have fruit? I currently have a few dozen on my tree but have no experience with Euro pears and am not sure when to pick them. I grafted this variety on a pear rootstock three years ago and it has grown like crazy. The tree was originally a Seckel but deer ate it down to the ground. Anyway, pears were the first thing I ever grafted and they took right away with no experience on my part. Search this forum for some tips and check the scion wiki section this winter to buy or trade for some scion sticks. I successfully grafted another dozen or so varieties onto that tree this spring (mostly Asians, some Euros)
If you want to learn to graft, pears are a great place to start. I think with just some reading/online study you should be able to get very high percentage takes on pear grafts with your first attempts.
No, it was only planted this spring. She is growing well.
I plan on learning to graft over the winter then trying it next season. I guess I’ll be looking for Seckel scion soon.
A little off topic. My Harrow Sweet grafts in 2016 are growing well and I have two fruits that look healthy and will make it until ripening time. They are still small to medium size and I was hoping someone that grows them could clue me in on the ripening time. Hoping for it to be late season.
Mine ripen in late Sept early Oct. when they ripen, the skin color turns yellowish with red blush.
Thanks. Harrow Sweet and Korean Giant will most likely end up being my late pears and I’m pretty sure both keep well refrigerated.
Saw a Seckel lying on the ground, unmolested by squirrels. Took a bite, it was quite edible, clearly nearing ripe
Didn’t think they were that early.
I can never figure out picking Seckels, because the color doesn’t change
I think it does. Anyway, it’s a pear that ripens somewhat gradually on the tree and tree ripe ones don’t rot in the middle so even if you wait for some to drop dead ripe off the tree the crop will mostly be fine.
Alan, can you describe the color change in the Seckel?
Alan,
Harrow sweet has been a great pear at my location and made it through a season here with no fireblight. I will let you know how these trees do as far as everything else long term. They are highly resistant to leaf diseases.
Turns from being green to more yellowish on background and foreground blush gets brighter. However, it is best to harvest some before they get this far if you want them to last in storage. When some have turned to this point you can usually harvest them all, eating the ripest ones first, although at room temps all would be soft in a week or two. Maybe the tree doesn’t work the same in other regions but Seckel is the least difficult for me to harvest properly. I’ve never regretted picking the bulk of the crop too green or too ripe. I still struggle with most other varieties. For others I use a combination of clean separation of the stem, which isn’t reliable, and sampling the crisp fruit for sugar. That, and just knowing the ripening sequences between varieties.
Last year I thought I’d harvested other varieties too early, because most fruit wasn’t adequately sweet, but asking around the consensus was pear quality was terrible for most varieties last season, including Harrow Sweet for the first time in my experience. Seckels were still quite good.
Thanks
I look to have a good crop this year and I’d like to make the most of it - squirrels allowing
What pear variety tastes close to Seckel but has more blight resistance? A friend of mine loves Seckel but doesn’t want to deal with bad blight.
Would Harrow Sweet be a close substitute for taste of Seckel? Thanks.
Hmmm… I don’t consider them terribly similar pears, but not very dissimilar in taste either. The problem is that HS is not FB resistant everywhere. Never had any strikes on it here in the NE, but it didn’t work well for Olpea in KS. I have had lots of strikes on Seckel and even lost a tree or two, but what really bothers me is its susceptibility here to scab and psyla. I’d rather lose a tree than have one that requires far too much upkeep. At some sites Sek has been fine.
I’ve gotten HS with it’s first pears, but they’re very small and seem
to look a lot like Moonglow. I hope they get larger before they start
to ripen. It’s been FB prone here, and even scab, which I’ve never seen
on any of my other pears. It grows like a weed and sets fruit at a very
early age, which I like, but I’m starting to think it may not do well in the South.
On the other hand Seckel has been bullet proof for me, no FB or any
other problems. It’s a very heavy setter, but the pears are small, but sweet.
Just shows that location means everything with lots of different fruit.
Wow- amazed to hear your Seckel is FB free in SC. May be worth a shot in Delaware then, also hot and humid. Thanks Alan and Ray for the info. Fabulous August weather here in Md- no a/c for entire month so far.