Detailed Introduction to the Excellent New Pear Variety 'Mingzhu'

This variety was introduced to Donggang and tested there for several years; its growth and fruiting habits, stress resistance and so on have all adapted to the Donggang area. The fruit is moderate in size, attractive in appearance, of excellent quality and high yielding.

I. Botanical characteristics. One-year-old branches are grayish white, slightly covered with grayish white down, the branches are slightly curved, with few lenticels; the trunk and perennial branches are grayish red-brown, with smooth bark; the leaves are oblong and relatively thick.

II. Growth and fruiting habits. The tree habit is upright, with strong vigor, a high sprouting rate, strong branching ability, many axillary flower buds, rapid flower formation, a high self-fruitfulness rate and strong productivity. Generally, it bears fruit 3 years after planting, and a 4-year-old tree can produce more than 10 kg per tree. In the early stage, it mainly bears fruit on medium and long fruiting branches, and its ability to bear fruit on axillary flower buds is strong.

III. Economic characteristics of the fruit. The fruit is gourd-shaped, with a slightly protruding top; the base color of the skin is yellow, with a red blush on the sunny side; the fruit surface is bright and attractive, and the skin is thin; the flesh is white, crisp, fine and juicy, with a sweet-sour taste that is pleasant; about 10 days after harvest, after-ripening makes the flesh soft, with a fragrant aroma. The average single fruit weight is 200 g, and the largest fruit weighs 420 g. The fruit ripens at the end of September, with a fruit development period of about 150 days, and the harvest period can be delayed to early to mid-October. At room temperature it can be stored for up to 30 days; if kept at 0-3°C it can be stored until March of the following year.

IV. Strong stress resistance. This variety has strong cold resistance and disease resistance, and is especially highly resistant to pear scab; even without pesticide application, premature defoliation will not occur.

Key cultivation techniques:

1. Orchard site selection. It has no strict requirements for soil, but planting in low-lying, heavy clay, poorly drained land should be avoided. It is best to choose sandy loam with good aeration, on which the fruit shows excellent coloring.

2. Planting density. This can be determined according to the orchard soil and management level. The spacing between plants and rows is generally best chosen as 3 x 3 m or 2 x 4 m.

3. Training and pruning. The tree form is mainly spindle-shaped. The pruning principle is light pruning and delayed pruning in the early stage, leaving more branches, and bending branches to open the angles. After the full fruiting period, attention should be paid to renewing and rejuvenating branch groups, and to adjusting the tree structure, with emphasis on summer pruning so that the tree has good ventilation and light penetration.

4. Soil and fertilizer management. Mainly apply organic fertilizer in autumn, 25-50 kg per 2- to 4-year-old tree. Before bud break, during the rapid fruit growth period and at the flower bud differentiation stage, apply compound fertilizer once each time, or fertilizer specially for fruit trees. During the fruit enlargement period, increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. In July, combined with pesticide spraying, spray 0.3% urea on the leaves 2-3 times; in August, spray 0.3%-0.5% monopotassium phosphate 1-2 times. Irrigation should focus on three periods: the bud break stage, the rapid shoot growth stage, and from after leaf fall to before the soil freezes.

5. Flower and fruit thinning. Because this variety forms flowers very easily and has a high self-fruitfulness rate, flower and fruit thinning should be done well so that the tree carries a reasonable load.

6. Pest and disease control.

1) Before bud break, spray Dongchunbao at 300-400 times dilution.

2) Before and after flowering, to control pear scab, pear psylla, red spider mites, aphids, leaf rollers, caterpillars, etc., the following can be used: Fuxing at 8000-10000 times dilution, carbendazim at 1000 times dilution, 20% fenvalerate emulsifiable concentrate at 5000 times dilution, 28% Baihongmansha at 2000-3000 times dilution, 5% beta-cypermethrin at 1000 times dilution, and Bike at 2000-3000 times dilution.

3) From mid-to-late May to late July, focus on controlling the pear fruit moth, peach fruit moth, pear scab, and ring rot and anthracnose. The following can be used for control: 20% Taoxiaolisha at 2000-2500 times dilution, 20% Taoxiaojuanyejing at 2000-3000 times dilution, 25% Kungfu emulsifiable concentrate at 3000 times dilution, Dasheng M45 at 800-1000 times dilution, 80% Penke at 800 times dilution, and 70% thiophanate-methyl at 1000 times dilution.