Content
In order not to wonder why the pear does not bear fruit if the age of fruiting has come, you need to learn everything about this crop before planting it on your summer cottage. There are many reasons for harvest delays, but all of them can be eliminated using agrotechnical methods.
At what age does a tree begin to bear fruit?
Some gardeners classify the pear as a capricious tree. Others don’t see anything special in growing it and don’t consider it fussy. In order for a pear to produce a rich harvest of juicy, tasty fruits, you need to at least plant on your plot the variety that was bred for a given climatic region.
If the variety is southern, then it will be very difficult to get from it in the Northern region what it gives in the Southern region. In this case, the pear can be called capricious. For northern climatic conditions, it is necessary to select appropriate pear varieties adapted for cool, short summers.
After planting a seedling, for the first 2-3 years it does not set an ovary and does not bear fruit.And that's okay. The tree strengthens its root system for future life. If during these years it began to bloom, then the ovary must be removed so that the tree spends all its energy on growing and strengthening its roots.
It is considered normal among gardeners if the tree begins to bloom and bear fruit in 4-6 years. There are pears that begin to bear fruit at 10-15 years. Of the most well-known varieties, on average, in the Russian region, according to the age of fruiting, the following can be distinguished:
- after 3-4 years the varieties Pamyati Yakovlev and Moskvichka begin to bear fruit;
- 4-5 years must pass after planting before you can taste the Otechestvennaya, Larinskaya, Krasnobokaya pears;
- Leningradskaya and Krasavitsa need 5-6 years to reach their age for flowering and fruiting;
- It will take about 10 years for the Josephine and Bereslutskaya varieties to mature, and only then the pears will appear.
In any case, if a pear tree does not bloom 7 years after planting a seedling, you should think about it and try to find out the reason.
Why doesn't the pear tree bloom?
The main reason for the absence of fruits on a tree is that the tree simply does not bloom, therefore there are no ovaries and there will be no fruits. But the reasons why the pear tree does not bloom need to be clarified, since there are many of them.
Varietal features
The first thing people pay attention to when buying seedlings is how many years it takes for a given pear variety to begin flowering and fruiting. In different varieties, the fruits begin to ripen at different ages. There are trees that take 15-20 years to harvest.
If a young pear turns out to be just like that and does not bear fruit due to its varietal characteristics, then you can graft a variety with a short fruiting age onto the tree and get fruits earlier.Or, on the contrary, graft a pear onto a quince, and it will bloom and bear fruit earlier.
Dichka does not bear fruit for a long time. Therefore, when purchasing a seedling, it is carefully examined to determine whether it is a wild bush or a varietal one. In a varietal pear, the trunk should not be smooth at the bottom. There should be a grafting site just above the root collar; it is clearly visible.
Lack of sunlight
It would probably be more correct to classify the pear as a southern crop, since its winter hardiness is low and it requires a lot of sunlight to ripen a rich harvest. As gardeners note, the plant should receive at least 6 hours a day of direct sunlight. Planted in shade or even partial shade, a pear tree will not bear fruit for 5 years or more until the branches grow upward to receive enough sun.
Nutrient deficiency
The composition of the soil in which a tree grows has a great influence on its condition and ability to produce crops. Favorable soil is light, slightly moist soil with neutral acidity.
If there is a lack of nutrients, all processes in the tree slow down, it may not even bloom, and if it does bloom, the ovaries will quickly fall off. The missing substances must be replenished.
There is no need to add a lot of nitrogen fertilizers at once. Otherwise, the pear will bush a lot, grow, and will not bear fruit. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the spring in such quantities that by about mid-summer they have already been used up.
Potassium and phosphorus fertilizers will be useful for the ripening of flower buds. They need to be fed to the pear while the fruit is ripening. Granular potassium-phosphorus additives are added to a depth of 20-25 cm in the tree trunk circle and covered with earth.
Incorrect landing
The ability to bloom and bear fruit can be affected by planting carried out without following the necessary rules. During planting, special attention is paid to the location of the root collar - the place where the trunk passes into the roots. It should be level with the ground surface and not be too deep or raised too high.
In the first case, if the planting was done recently, the entire pear is lifted with a shovel and soil is added under the roots or soil is raked away from the trunk so that the root collar is higher. In the second case, soil is added around the tree trunk to cover the roots so that they do not freeze with the onset of cold weather.
You should also know that when planted, annual seedlings tolerate replanting more easily, take root faster, and reach the age when they begin to bloom and bear fruit. Two-year-olds are sick longer and their fruits may ripen later than planted one-year-olds.
Another important point that you should pay attention to when planting seedlings is their orientation to the cardinal points. In order for the seedling to feel more confident, it is planted the way it grew in the nursery: the southern side of the bush in the new place should again face the south.
Incorrect pruning
A pear may have a dense crown, which will not allow it to fully bloom and bear fruit. Therefore, pruning is done annually to thin it out.Branches extending from the trunk at an acute angle upward are tilted to a horizontal position, secured with a weight or loop. And those that grow inside the crown are removed. This thinning should not be strong. Otherwise, the young pear will take a long time to recover and will not bloom or bear fruit.
When pruning, you need to know which branches to remove. The pear produces a harvest every year. One year some branches bear fruit, another year they rest, and the pears ripen on the neighboring ones. Incorrect pruning can result in no harvest this year.
Pruning cannot cause columnar pears if they do not bear fruit, since this variety does not need pruning.
Freezing in winter
Many pear varieties are not resistant to frost. If the snow has not yet fallen and covered the ground, and frosts have already reached -100From... -200C, then the roots of the tree may freeze. This will cause the pear to stop blooming and, accordingly, bear fruit.
If severe frost is expected before snowfall, then, if possible, the roots are insulated for the winter with improvised means: the area around the trunk with a diameter of the crown is mulched, spruce branches, peat, and straw are laid on top. The lower part of the trunk is wrapped in insulating building material, burlap, or plastic.
There are cases when the bark cracks due to winter frosts or is eaten by rodents. With the arrival of spring, before the sap begins to flow, you need to cover the wounds with garden pitch or clay and wrap them with cloth.
Overwatering of roots
The close occurrence of groundwater can make the soil so wet that the roots of the pear bush begin to become wet and rot. The pear will spend energy and nutrients restoring normal functioning of the root system.As a result, there will be little fruiting, little flowering, and the formation of ovaries will decrease or stop altogether.
Groundwater can deplete the soil, washing away the minerals necessary for the pear. Therefore, the crop needs to be planted in a loose, well-drained area.
Diseases and pests
Various insect pests and fungal diseases can prevent a pear from blooming and, accordingly, deprive it of its ability to bear fruit. With the arrival of spring, the apple blossom beetle may attack the pear tree, destroying its flowers. Pear psyllid (psyllid) attacks the buds and is a carrier of a fungal disease that can affect the entire tree. The codling moth and other insects actively feed on the fruit pulp.
Therefore, even before the snow melts, it is recommended to tie adhesive belts on the trunk and, before flowering, carry out preventive spraying of trees with such preparations as:
- "Alatar";
- "Kinmiks";
- "Ivanhoe";
- karbofos and chlorophos.
How to stimulate pear blossoms
The work of gardeners with fruit trees is aimed at obtaining a harvest. First of all, they create favorable conditions for the growth of the pear, its ability to bloom and bear fruit luxuriantly.
In addition, experts carry out some additional manipulations to stimulate the pear to bloom:
- regular crown thinning;
- bending branches to a horizontal position;
- trimming the top of the trunk to stop upward growth.
If a pear bushes abundantly, has all the favorable conditions for growth, but does not bear fruit or even bloom, then some gardeners suggest creating a stressful situation that would stimulate the pear to flower and bear fruit. One such method is to drive a pair of nails into the trunk.
To prevent the outflow of nutrients from going to the roots, a ring of bark up to 0.5-1 cm wide is removed from one of the branches. Then the wound is coated with garden varnish or bandaged with film. It is believed that the movement of juices down the branch will slow down, and the pear will begin to bloom and bear fruit.
How to stimulate a pear is up to the gardener, but he must provide it with the necessary living conditions if he wants to get a good harvest.
Why does a pear blossom but not bear fruit?
Pear is a non-self-fertile plant. If only one variety of pear grows in the garden, the reason that it does not bear fruit, although it blooms, is obvious. To pollinate flowers, you need at least one more pear variety. This must be taken into account when purchasing a seedling and purchase 2 different varieties for your garden at once.
Sometimes it happens that spring has already arrived, everything in the garden has bloomed, and then frost returns. Dealing with return frosts that destroy future harvests is very difficult.
What to do if the pear blossoms but does not bear fruit
In the spring, at a certain time, the pear tree begins to bloom luxuriantly, filling the garden with a pleasant aroma. But it may turn out that the long-awaited harvest was not expected from her. To prevent this from happening, you need to take measures in advance to help the fruit tree:
- If there is only one pear variety in the garden, then the reason for the fruit not ripening is the lack of pollination. It is recommended to plant another variety at a distance of 3-4 m. Their flowering time should coincide. Or graft a branch of a different variety onto the pear. Then pollination of pear flowers will be ensured.
- In spring, you should pay attention to weather conditions. It may turn out that the early arrival of heat will provoke early flowering of the pear. And then the cold will come again and destroy the fruit buds. Gardeners are trying to save the flowering and smoke the tree. But this doesn't always help.
These two reasons can deprive a pear of fruit if all other requirements of the fruit tree are met. Therefore, you need to take them into account first if the tree blooms but does not bear fruit.
Preventive actions
Having once decided to plant a pear on your plot, you should create conditions under which it will grow, bloom and delight you with its delicious fruits. We list the necessary measures for caring for a pear:
- correct choice of soil without nearby groundwater;
- sufficient sunlight;
- absence of drafts and strong wind;
- timely watering and fertilizing;
- pruning and crown formation according to the rules;
- presence of a pollinator on the site;
- spraying against pests and fungal diseases;
- prevention of death from frost.
All these actions are normal and natural for growing a fruit tree and do not contain anything special that may be beyond the capabilities of a novice amateur gardener.
Conclusion
The considered list of reasons why a pear does not bear fruit during its fruiting period and sometimes does not even bloom, leads to the conclusion that the expected result can be obtained after following the basic rules of agricultural technology.Decisive for a pear tree is the correct choice of variety for a specific climatic region.
