Cultivation Techniques and Key Points for the Red Late-Maturing Pear Hong Anjou

The Hong Anjou late-maturing pear is a new deeply red bud sport variety discovered in Washington State, USA, from the Anjou pear. Shandong Province introduced it in 1997 from the USDA National Pear Germplasm Repository. Cultivation trials in various locations have proven that this variety has strong adaptability, is easy to cultivate, has high fruit firmness, and is tolerant of storage and transport, making it a late-maturing pear variety with relatively good overall traits. The fruit of this variety is gourd-shaped, with an average single fruit weight of 230 grams and a maximum single fruit weight of up to 500 grams. The skin is purplish-red, the fruit surface is smooth with a waxy luster, and the fruit dots are moderately numerous, small, and obvious, giving it a beautiful appearance. The flesh is milky white, fine in texture, with few stone cells; after 1 week of ripening it softens, melts easily in the mouth, is very juicy, and has a sweet-tart flavor that is pleasant to the taste, with a pleasant, rich aroma. The soluble solids content is above 14%, and the quality is excellent. The fruit has good storage tolerance: it can be stored for 40 days at room temperature, for 6 to 7 months under refrigerated conditions at -1°C, and for 9 months under controlled atmosphere conditions. When cultivated in the Jinan area, the fruit ripening period is from late September to early October. Its cultivation key points are introduced as follows: 1. Planting and Orchard Establishment Hong Anjou pear grows well in various soils with a pH value of 6 to 7.8 in mountainous hills and plains, and is suitable for orchard establishment in Bartlett pear planting areas. The rootstock used for grafting Hong Anjou pear is best chosen as Pyrus betulifolia. Before planting, deep plowing should be carried out to improve the soil and apply high-quality farmyard manure, then trenches should be opened. In plain areas, plant at a spacing of 4 to 5 m × 3 to 4 m; in hilly and mountainous areas, plant at 3 to 4 m × 2 to 3 m. Pollinator trees are needed, and cultivars such as Red Comice and Red Bartlett can be selected as pollinators. 2. Fertilizer and Water Management In autumn, combine deep plowing and soil improvement to apply base fertilizer, applying about 4,000 kg of farmyard manure per mu. Generally, topdressing is applied 4 times a year, at the following times: before bud break (mid to late March), after flowering and before flower bud differentiation (mid-May to early June), during fruit enlargement (July to August), and during the nutrient storage period (after fruit harvest to before leaf fall). In the early stage, nitrogen fertilizer is mainly applied; in the later stage, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer is mainly applied. Irrigation can be carried out in combination with fertilization, generally 3 to 4 times a year, but attention should be paid to preventing waterlogging and controlling water before harvest. 3. Training and Pruning The tree form of Hong Anjou pear is preferably the spindle shape and the small-canopy delayed-open shape. Young trees have strong growth vigor and upright branches, so summer pruning should be strengthened, using manual branch-angle opening techniques such as pulling, propping, bending, and twisting to open the angle, moderate tree vigor, and promote flower formation and fruiting. 4. Flower and Fruit Period Management This mainly involves flower thinning and bagging. Flower thinning should be carried out from the inflorescence separation stage to the early flowering stage; generally, 1 inflorescence is retained every 20 to 25 cm of branch length, and all other inflorescences are removed. Fruit thinning is carried out 1 week after flowering and completed within 1 month; vigorous trees retain more fruit, and weak trees retain less fruit. To enhance the marketability of the fruit, the fruit should be bagged. 5. Pest and Disease Control This variety has higher resistance to bacterial fire blight and pear scab than Bartlett pear; its resistance to powdery mildew, leaf spot, fruit rot, pear decline, and pear vein yellows virus is similar to that of Bartlett pear; its resistance to fruit borers is far higher than that of Bartlett pear, but it is particularly sensitive to mites, so attention should be paid to the control of red spider mites and the like.