Content
Pear is a widespread, unpretentious fruit tree that can be successfully grown in any garden. Breeders annually develop new varieties of this crop with unique properties and characteristics. Among the huge variety of existing varieties, the Conference pear has withstood serious competition for more than 100 years and is popular among gardeners all over the world. Wide popularity and demand over a long period of time is justified by the excellent agrotechnical characteristics of the variety and the remarkable quality of the fruit. Thus, the “Conference” pear is grown today not only in personal plots, but also in gardening farms. Fruits of this variety can often be found on store shelves. Growing a fruit tree with your own hands is quite simple. In our article we will provide detailed guidance on how to do this and provide a description of the “Conference” pear, photos and reviews of this legendary variety.
Detailed description of the variety
The history of the creation of the wonderful variety “Conference” goes back to 1885. It was then that British scientists obtained a new type of pear with excellent characteristics.After lengthy trials, breeders presented their brainchild to the public during a British conference in 1895. In honor of this event, the variety received its extraordinary name. The Conference pear quickly gained recognition among farmers and spread throughout the European continent, and then beyond. Today the popularity of the variety does not fade. “Conference” is grown everywhere, including in Russia, mainly in the southern regions.
Characteristics of the fruit tree
The Conference pear is noticeably different from other varieties. This fruit tree is tall and lush. Its height reaches 4-5 m. The branches of the “Conference” are spreading, heavily leafy. The crown of the pear is so thick and voluminous that its radius can reach 5 m. The fruit tree quickly grows young shoots, 60-70 cm per season. Such active growth of greenery requires regular and careful formation of the crown. Every year, during the pruning process, farmers recommend trimming the branches so that the shape of the tree is cone-shaped. This will give a neat, decorative appearance to the plant, opening its lower branches for the penetration of sunlight and uniform ripening of the fruit.
The Conference pear blooms in the first ten days of May. It is always abundant and long lasting. The flowers of the fruit tree are simple, consisting of 5 white petals. They are collected in inflorescences of 6-10 pieces. The Conference variety is characterized by relatively low resistance to weather disasters. Thus, winter and spring can lead to the falling of flowers and a decrease in yield.
The undoubted advantage of the “Conference” variety is its high self-pollination. Depending on weather conditions, ovaries are formed from 60-70% of flowers.This figure can be further increased by placing another pollinator tree in the immediate vicinity. The presence of such varieties as “Bere Bosc” and “Williams” has a beneficial effect on the “Conference”. It is worth noting that pollinating pears can not only increase the yield, but also improve the taste of the Conference variety fruits.
Description of fruit
After planting, a seedling of the “Conference” variety will not keep you waiting for a harvest for long. Already a four-year-old fruit tree will give you several kilograms of ripe, tasty pears. As the tree grows, the yield of the tree increases. From each mature pear, in favorable climatic conditions, it is possible to collect about 70-100 kg per season.
The Conference pears ripen in the second half of September. Ripe fruits are very juicy and sweet. Their flesh is slightly oily and cream-colored. The average fruit weight is 130-150 g. Small or especially large pears of this variety are formed extremely rarely. The harvest is usually uniform. The shape of the fruit is cone-shaped, elongated, slightly bottle-like. The skin of pears is matte, quite dense, slightly harsh. Its color is green-yellow. A golden brown hue can be seen on some fruits on the sunlit side. The fruits of the “Conference” variety are securely attached to the branches with the help of highly curved, short stalks, due to which they rarely fall off.
The taste of Conference pears is excellent: the flesh is very sweet and aromatic. It consists of many small grains, which only add additional sophistication to the fresh product.
The proposed variety of pears is not only tasty, but also very healthy. They contain a whole complex of minerals, vitamins A, B, C. Citric, oxalic and malic acids are also present in the fruit. Tannins contained in pear skin have a number of beneficial properties and are widely used in medicine. It is precisely because of the tannin content that the Conference pear has a slightly tart taste.
You can see the harvest of pears of the “Conference” variety, evaluate the external qualities of the fruit and hear the comments of the farmer in the video:
Variety resistance to external factors
The Conference pear is thermophilic and is recommended for cultivation in the southern regions of Russia. Low winter hardiness does not allow the fruit tree to withstand wintering at temperatures below -180C. This factor is perhaps one of the main disadvantages of the proposed variety.
The variety, bred many years ago, does not have protection against various diseases, so each gardener must independently take care of protecting his plant. So, when growing a “Conference” pear, you should be wary of the following ailments:
- Septoria blight appears as white or brown spots on the leaves, shoots of the plant and the pears themselves. The disease leads to deformation of the fruit, loss of leaves, and slow growth of young shoots. The disease can be resisted by preventative spraying of the fruit tree with fungicides.
- Scab is small but numerous brown spots, covered with barely noticeable lint, on the leaves and fruits of pears. To prevent the disease, use Bordeaux mixture or urea solution.It is recommended to cut off the affected areas of the tree and burn them.
- Rust on the leaves appears as orange spots. Areas of the crown damaged by this disease must be treated with copper-containing preparations.
- Fruit rot can be easily identified by the presence of characteristic, foul-smelling lesions on the surface of the fruit. After destroying rotten pears, the fruit tree should be treated with Biomix.
- Powdery mildew is a gray coating on leaves. Under the influence of the disease, they dry out. The medicine in this case is an aqueous solution of soda ash with laundry soap.
- You can fight aphids on pear trees with special preparations: Agroverin, Iskra-Bio.
In addition to the listed diseases, when growing Conference pears, you may encounter other diseases, the signs and treatment of which can be found out in detail from the video:
Advantages and disadvantages
Many years of experience in growing Conference pears allows us to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the variety. So, among the positive qualities of the variety, the following should be highlighted:
- active growth of the fruit tree and early fruiting;
- bountiful, annual harvest;
- high level of self-pollination;
- excellent fruit quality;
- good marketability and transportability of fruits.
Speaking about the disadvantages of the “Conference” variety, you should pay attention to the following nuances:
- low winter hardiness of the variety;
- dependence of yield on weather conditions;
- low genetic resistance to diseases.
Regular fruiting and a high level of productivity make it possible to grow pears of the “Conference” variety in gardening farms for the purpose of subsequent sale of the fruit.Delicious pears are popular among buyers and bring in good income. The only condition for industrial farmers is to comply with cultivation rules and implement preventive measures to protect fruit trees from diseases and pests.
How to grow
The Conference pear can grow and successfully bear fruit in one place for more than 40 years. Therefore, before planting a seedling, you need to choose the right place:
- A large fruit tree cannot be placed near stationary objects on the site.
- Conference pear prefers to grow in loose, well-drained and fertile soil.
- Soil for pears should preferably be neutral acidity or slightly alkaline.
- The seedling should be placed on a sunny piece of land, protected from strong winds.
- Groundwater on the site should not be higher than 1.5 m from the surface of the earth.
- There should be no rowan tree near the pear. The proximity of these plants provokes the development of diseases.
A young seedling of the “Conference” variety should be planted in the fall around mid-September. To do this, you first need to prepare a planting hole and a nutrient substrate containing organic matter and minerals. It is additionally recommended to place several handfuls of rust at the bottom of the hole.
Before planting, the roots of the “Conference” seedling must be shortened slightly, kept in water for an hour and coated with a nutritious mixture of water, manure and clay mixed in a ratio of 6:2:1.When immersing a pear in a planting hole, it is necessary to straighten the roots of the seedling and deepen them so that the root neck of the tree rises 6-8 cm above ground level.
The roots of the seedling must be covered with fertile soil and compacted. To water the plant, you need to use 15-20 liters of water. The pear tree trunk should be mulched. For a safe winter, the trunk of a fruit tree must be wrapped in burlap.
Caring for the plant in early spring should begin by removing burlap and other coverings. The tree trunk must be inspected; if there are cracks, the damaged areas must be treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate. After treatment, the trunk of the seedling must additionally be coated with garden varnish or lime. The soil in the tree trunk circle needs to be loosened to saturate the pear roots with oxygen.
The “Conference” seedling does not need to be fed the next year after planting, provided that a sufficient amount of minerals and organic matter has been placed in the planting hole. In subsequent years, organic matter must be added to the pear tree trunk in an amount of 2 kg per 1 m2 soil. For an adult plant, in addition to organic substances, it is also recommended to use potassium sulfate, complex fertilizers and urea. Immediately before flowering, once a season, you can foliarly treat the seedling with a superphosphate solution at a concentration of 3%. This measure will significantly increase yields and improve the quality of future fruits.
Soil moisture is extremely important for the Conference pear. A sufficient amount of water nourishes the plant itself and makes the fruit juicy and sweet.To obtain a high-quality harvest, it is recommended to water every 1 m2 once every 3 days.2 soil in the tree trunk circle with 20 liters of water.
Thus, timely, proper care of the Conference pear will allow you to obtain the highest quality fruit harvest in large quantities. Preventive treatment of wood with folk remedies and special preparations will protect the existing crop from parasites and diseases.
Conclusion
The “Conference” pear is undoubtedly worthy of praise, because for a hundred years it has never found a worthy replacement among hundreds of other varieties. Despite their relatively modest external qualities, the fruits have excellent taste and aroma. The fruits store well and are suitable for making desserts, jams, compotes and jellies. One fruit tree on a plot with good yield can feed the whole family with healthy fresh and tasty canned fruit all year round. To do this, you just need to show him a little care.
This means the Conference in the Moscow region will freeze. I really want to plant