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All pear trees need to be cross-pollinated with another pear variety to make fruit.
To help you choose the right trees to pollinate each other, we
have put them into 3 groups in the colour coded table below.
It's very easy: a pear tree can cross-pollinate with any tree in its own group or the group next to it on the table. So, it works like this:
| Name | Use | Harvest | Pollination Group | Cross Pollinates With Which Groups? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | Eating | Mid | A | A,B |
| Louise Bonne of Jersey | Eating | Mid | A | A,B (Except Williams Bon Chretien) |
| Beth | Eating | Early | B | A,B,C |
| Beurre Hardy | Eating | Mid | B | A,B,C (A poor pollinator for other pears) |
| Brandy | Perry | Mid | B | A,B,C |
| Glou Morceau | Eating | Mid | B | A,B,C |
| Merton Pride | Eating | Early | B | A,B,C (Triploid - cannot pollinate other trees) |
| Williams bon Chretien | Eating | Early | B | A,B,C (Except Louise Bonne of Jersey) |
| Winter Nelis | Eating | Late | B | A,B,C |
| Cannock | Perry | Mid | C | B,C,D |
| Concorde | Eating | Mid | C | B,C,D |
| Doyenne du Comice | Eating | Mid | C | B,C,D (Except Onward) |
| Humbug | Eating / Cooking | Late | C | B,C,D |
| Invincible | Eating / Cooking | Mid | C | B,C,D |
| Onward | Eating | Mid | C | B,C,D (Except Doyenne du Comice) |
| Sensation | Eating | Early | C | B,C,D |
| Hellens Early | Eating / Cooking | Mid | D | C,D |
More Facts About Pear Tree Pollination:
For two
pear trees to cross-pollinate each other, the flowers of both trees
need to
be open at the same time.
The groups above refer to each tree's flowering period: Group A is Early, Group B is Mid-Season and Group C is Late flowering.
Because the flowering periods overlap, trees in each of the 3 groups can cross-pollinate trees in the group or groups next to them
Flowering Dates VS Harvest Dates:
Your pear tree's flowering group is not connected to when the fruit ripens.
You will notice that all of the early and late cropping pear trees are in the mid season flowering group, while all of the early and late flowering trees crop in the main season.
Self Fertile Pear Trees:
The fact is that pears aren't very good at pollinating themselves.
You may see
Conference, Concorde and Louise Bonne of Jersey trees being listed as self-fertile, which is half true.
Yes, they will make some decent fruit with no other pear trees around, but they will only give their best crops when they are pollinated by another tree.
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