A Detailed Guide to Pear Tree Planting Techniques and Cultivation Management Methods
The fruit of the pear tree is edible and has high nutritional and medicinal value. The trunk of a young tree has smooth bark; as the tree ages, the bark becomes rough, with vertical fissures or peeling. Young twigs are glabrous or have tomentum, which later falls off; branches two years old or older are grayish-yellow to purplish-brown.
Pear Tree Planting Techniques and Management
I. Selecting Good Varieties
Different pear varieties have different requirements for environment and climate, so you should choose excellent early-maturing, mid-maturing or late-maturing varieties suited to the local climate. When planting pear trees, pollinizer trees must be arranged; the ratio of pollinizer trees to main cultivar trees is 1:4-6, and it is best to choose 2-3 varieties that can pollinate each other for cultivation.
II. Orchard Establishment
Site selection: Choose a plot that is sheltered from wind and faces the sun, with deep, fertile, slightly acidic soil, convenient drainage and irrigation, easy transportation, and no Chinese juniper trees within 10 kilometers for building the orchard.
Planting density: Spacing of 2.5-4 x 4-5 m between plants and rows, with 33-67 trees per mu. For flat land, good soil fertility and vigorous varieties, the density should be lower; otherwise, it is better to plant more densely.
Planting technique: Plant before bud break in spring. Dig planting pits 80-100 cm wide and 60-80 cm deep. When digging, pile the topsoil separately; apply 50 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per pit as base fertilizer, mix the base fertilizer with the topsoil and first fill the bottom 2/3, then fill the upper 1/3 with plain soil as the planting zone. When planting, spread the roots out; after planting, tidy the tree basin, water thoroughly to settle the roots, and cover the tree basin with plastic film.
III. Orchard Management
Soil management: Starting from the second year, a new orchard should carry out deep plowing and hole expansion to improve the soil each year in combination with autumn and winter base fertilizer application. The deep plowing depth is about 40 cm; backfill organic matter or organic fertilizer at the bottom to increase the permeability of the deeper soil and the fertility of the root zone. In spring and summer, cover the tree basin with green manure, weeds, crop straw, etc., 15-20 cm thick, and interplant green manure between rows and turn it under to increase the organic matter content in the soil.
Fertilizer and water management: Apply base fertilizer once a year and topdress 2-3 times. Base fertilizer is mainly organic matter, applied in mid-to-late October; for trees that have just begun bearing fruit, apply 15-50 kg of organic fertilizer per tree; for trees in full bearing, fertilize according to yield, applying 1 kg of base fertilizer for every 1 kg of fruit produced. The first topdressing is carried out 10 days before bud break: about 0.8 kg of compound fertilizer per tree for young bearing trees, and about 1.5 kg per tree for trees in full bearing; the second topdressing is carried out one week after petal fall, preferably with a multi-element compound fertilizer, at the same rate as at bud break; the third is during the fruit enlargement stage, mainly with potassium fertilizer combined with phosphate and nitrogen fertilizer, applied to the roots and as a foliar feed.
Water management in the pear orchard mainly involves watering well during the three key periods: before flowering, after flowering, and during fruit enlargement, and can be combined with topdressing.
IV. Training and Pruning
Training: Pear trees mainly use the open-center delayed-heading form. That is, trunk height 60-80 cm, tree height about 3 m, with 5-6 scaffold branches in the whole tree, 3 (or 4) in the lower tier and two in the upper tier. The first-tier scaffold branches generally have 3 lateral branches. The first lateral branch should preferably be more than 40 cm from the trunk, the second lateral branch 40-50 cm from the first, and the distance from the third lateral branch to the second can be increased to more than 60 cm; crossings and overlaps between lateral branches should be avoided. The second-tier scaffold branches generally have only two lateral branches; the first lateral branch should preferably be 30-40 cm from the trunk, and the distance between the second and first lateral branches can be moderately increased. The distance between the two tiers of scaffold branches should preferably be 1.2-1.6 m, and the angle of each scaffold branch to the trunk should preferably be 60-70 degrees.
Pruning: The pruning task for young trees that have just begun bearing fruit is to develop the tree framework; pruning mainly consists of bending branches flat, cutting out overly dense branches, injured branches, and diseased and insect-damaged branches, and controlling and using water sprouts by timely bud removal, pinching, or bending branches to change their direction so they form fruiting branches. In the full-bearing stage, the tree shape is basically stable; pruning should remove overly dense branches, injured branches, and diseased and insect-damaged branches, increase canopy light penetration, and develop fruiting branch groups inside the canopy; rejuvenate and renew aging fruiting branches, that is, cut overly long scaffold branches back to healthy branches or buds, and for the "chicken-claw branches" that form, keep only 1-2 and cut away the rest.
V. Flower and Fruit Management
Protecting flowers and fruit: Spraying 0.2%-0.3% boric acid, 0.3% urea, 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate or other organic nutrient solutions during the flowering period can increase the fruit-setting rate; using artificial pollination, keeping bees in the orchard, etc., can not only increase the fruit-setting rate but also increase the proportion of large fruit and improve quality.
Thinning flowers and fruit: The amount of fruit retained can be determined according to the variety and the yield per mu. During winter pruning, remove some fruiting branches and flower buds, and in spring thin flower buds and fruit. Fruit thinning is carried out 10-15 days after petal fall, keeping 1-2 fruits per inflorescence; when thinning, first remove diseased and insect-damaged fruit, deformed fruit, and fruit without leaves.
Fruit bagging: Fruit bagging is completed 20-45 days after flowering. If conditions permit, double bagging can be used, that is, immediately after petal fall put on a small wax-paper bag, and after fruit set is stable, put on a large bag. Bagging should preferably be done on sunny days. Spray an insecticide and fungicide once before bagging; it is best not to use emulsifiable concentrates, but rather powders or aqueous formulations, and bag as soon as the spray has dried. When bagging, avoid the fruit surface sticking to the paper bag.
VI. Control of Major Diseases and Pests
Pear scab: Damages twigs and fruit. Control methods: use resistant varieties and strengthen management; in winter, clean the orchard by removing fallen leaves and fruit and cutting off diseased twigs, and burn them in a centralized manner; before bud break, spray 3 degrees Baumé lime sulfur; during the disease period, promptly cut off diseased twigs, leaves, and fruit and burn them; spray once each at the flower-bud swelling stage and after petal fall, then once every 2-3 weeks thereafter, for a total of 3-4 times, using 0.5:1:100 Bordeaux mixture, or 30% copper oxychloride 600x, or 50% carbendazim 500-800x, or 70% thiophanate-methyl 500-800x.
Pear rust: Damages leaves, new shoots, and young fruit. Control methods: keep the orchard away from juniper trees; in early to mid-March, spray the juniper trees around the pear orchard with 3 degrees Baumé lime sulfur to kill overwintering spores; spray for protection. Spray once when buds break and leaves unfold, then once about every 10 days for 3 consecutive times. Use 1:2:200 Bordeaux mixture, or 80% zineb 600-800x, or 70% thiophanate-methyl 800x.
Pear weevil: Adults feed on tender buds and fruit. Control methods: take advantage of the adults' death-feigning behavior; during the adult emergence period, shake the trees in the early morning with plastic film spread underneath to capture and kill the adults that fall; for chemical control, during the adult occurrence period, spray 90% trichlorfon 600-800x or 80% dichlorvos 1000x, once every 15 days.