When should I pick pears from my pear tree?

Question

I couple pear trees and apple trees. Last year they where all eaten by bugs or something. I want to pick them before this happens. Is it OK to pick them early? Will they still ripen? I also want to know if there is any truth to a rumor I heard that if you don't pick the fruit at all, it is a great strain on the trees health.

Answer 1

Let them get to a ripe point before picking.  If you see one on the ground start picking right away!  They will slowly ripen if you pick them a bit early, but not too early!

Answer 2

Pears will not ripen on the tree.  Pick them when they reach full size and ripen them indoors at room temperature, preferably loosely wrapped, individually, in a piece of paper or in a paper bag.  Check them often.   There is absolutely no truth to such a a rumor.

Answer 3

O.K., so i'm no expert, but I live in No. Calif. and we have lots of pear orchards here. There aren't too many fruits that get sweeter after they are picked, (bananas mangos), but I know they always pick pears when they are green.  I mean, really green and still hard as a rock.  When I use to buy these green pears for canning, they would tell me to take them home and spread them out on newspapers  (not touching each other) and cover them with another layer of newspaper.  As I remember, they would ripen within a few days.  Most commercial growers pick all fruit when it is green and at their convenience and it doesn' get any sweeter.  That is one of the reasons fruit has little or no flavor.  By the way, we have worms in our granny smith apples too and I am ready to kill my husband because he is the "sprayer".  Next year I am going to hire it done! ha...

Answer 4

You may have coddling moth in them, as that is one of their main pests, also in apples. You should spray for this when the blooms first open, that's when they lay their eggs there.