[MorganRiley]

we have 2 pear trees

there are about a dozen pears on the ground that have randomly fallen off over the past couple of week

some look knawed but i think that happened after they fell ...we have lots of squirrels around here

so i was wondering why do they fall off the tree before they are ripe ??

the ones staying on the tree are not yet ripe...almost full size...maybe 90% and definitely still hard and green.

any ideas?

is it just selective natural pruning?

 

[janasmama]

hmmm. are your leaves curling?

 

[MorganRiley]

nope!?

what does that mean if they were?

 

[MiriamF]

We have a pear tree right outside our kitchen window and we have plenty of pears that have fallen to the ground. This is because:
1) birds and squirrels are constantly pecking at the fruit and dropping them
2) we've had some severe windy rain storms that dropped a ton down
3) a few just rotted on the tree and then fell.

There's still plenty more though so I'm not so worried. I'm more interested in finding out how in the world I'm supposed to pick those pears, and when?? Never had a pear tree before!

 

[MorganRiley]

ohhhhh maybe the squirrels are knocking some down to eat them!!

we have a ton too...
so not really worried about a few fallen ones...just kinda wondering why

i am gonna pick when they look/feel/taste ripe

i never had a pear tree before either!

(i was kinda bummed hoping they were apple trees actually)

 

[lmonter]

Around here, you pick the pears when they're still slightly hard, and let them finish ripening on your counter. This way, you can also stick the slightly hard pears in your fridge, and potentially have fresh pears for Thanksgiving or even Christmas.