1. Thinning will probably improve the flavor. I don't have a lot of
experience with pears. The only pear I have, that produces fruit, (so
far) is one I grafted about 5 feet high on a mountain ash tree. The
original tree (on its own trunk) winter killed before it got big enough
to flower.
I grow plums and I have noticed a huge difference in sweetness if I thin
properly. They can be quite tasteless if too much fruit sets and I don't
thin them.
2. I have heard of some fruit ripening sweeter if the pH of the soil is
brought up to neutral. I'm not sure how pears respond. I'll be watching
to see if others reply to this one. Some pear varieties are just sweeter
than others. If yours are naturally not real sweet, there may be nothing
you can do.
3. You may have picked them too early. Don't worry about them freezing
just because there is frost. They can take temperatures into the low 20s
without damage. I still have half the crop on my tree.
Most pears should be picked a little green for best quality (as, I
assume, you know). Some dare to get completely ripe on the tree but many
varieties get gritty and may not keep as long if you let them hang too
long. Next year, pick some on different dates to find out what works best.

I keep in touch with a woman I know in Grand Rapids, MI. She recently
mentioned that her cold summer caused her pears to be of such poor
quality that they were barely worth picking. Yours may just be better
next year no matter what you do. :-)

Steve in the Adirondacks of northern NY




simy1 wrote:
I have five sixty-years old pear trees in sandy soil, SE Michigan.
This year I winterfed them with substantial amounts of wood ash and
some manure and wood chips and I got an overwhelming harvest (I am
guessing 1000 pounds). Yes, I should have thinned the fruits (I did
some thinning as time allowed), but I was busy this spring. I am also
aware that fruit quality decreases with tree age. But I have those
trees, I salvaged them from decades of neglect, and now they are
properly pruned (it took three years of progressive pruning) and
certainly vigorous enough to provide years of good crops.

The pears are good, certainly much better than those in years past,
smooth texture except the core, and mostly unblemished (no spray was
applied), but not yet as sweet as I would like them to be. They cook
or bake very well, and they are also good out of hand (I am eating
about five a day). My questions:

1) will thinning improve the flavor? On the two trees I thinned, I had
noticeably bigger pears, so no doubt I will keep doing it. Also, I
harvested those pears two weeks after the other two, so time of
harvest may have had something to do with it.

2) which nutrients are known to improve sugar content? The soil under
them is poor in everything, and acid.

3) this year was somewhat cool for our location. Should I have held up
my harvest until pears would start to drop? As it is, the pears took
two weeks in my garage to ripen properly.