On Apr 21, 5:30 am, "Jimmy S." wrote:
I was told by my local nursery folk when I tried to purchase an asian pear
tree.
He said that I should plant at least two's that way they can
cross-pollinate
one another, and hopefully one is male and the other is female !

I was aware of cross-pollination business, but I really got lost when
he mentioned about male/female plant!! I would like you experts
in this forum to comment on the subject --- he seemed to know what
he was taking about. If he was right -which I doubt it, how do I correctly
pick the right sex?

Thanks in advance

JIMMY

This subject is much more complex than it first appears. Yes there
are species of plants that have separate male and female plants,
clearly in this case you need at least one of each, an example is the
kiwifruit. Pears are not in this category.

The reason that you may be told to get more than one of certain fruit
and nut trees is that although they are both male and female often
their self fertility is low or non-existent. In some cases to get the
best result you just need more than one plant of the same cultivar in
other cases different cultivars are better. The latter situation is
common.

In the case of pears some are self-fertile but many will produce a
much reduced yield unless paired with the right cultivar. You didn't
say what type you have so I cannot look it up.

David