Suffering young pear tree

Baglady_2

I've had my little pear tree in a pot for 2 years now. This year I was so excited to see blossom, but the other week it was a bit windy here and the blossom vanished, but there was still something left on the stalk so I hoped it would be ok. Today, horrors, where the the little stalkything was, it's gone. It's like someone has took scissors to the the little stem. I notice there are some little reddish looking spiders on the tree. Are these pests? Last year I thought the tree was dying because the leaves looked shrivelled up even though I was watering it. Also, something is biting big chunks out of the leaves. I saw a bee round the leaves, could it have been that or some other nasty. Can anyone recommend what I should do please, I was hoping not to have to use chemicals, but then I would also quite like to have pears for the table. Thanks if anyone can help.

foxgloves

The only bees that take chunks out of leaves are the leaf-cutter bees. It's a bit too early for them as yet. We have them in our garden. They chomp small semi-circles out of the edges of leaves and roll them up & take them away to our bee box where they use them for individual nests. We do have a pear tree but I've never noticed the leafcutter bees causing any damage at all. They prefer my old rosebush & witchhazel. I wouldn't ever advise anyone to spray against bees. They are just too valuable for pollinating crops. Am wondering if your pear tree blossom has suffered in the cold nights recently. We aren't very far north, only Midlands, but have had a few frosts this last week. Saw a neighbour actually scraping his car!! What can happen is that fruit trees blossom & then we get a sharp frost & the blossom fails which then affects fruit yield. The only other thing I can think is that your flowers haven't been pollinated. I may be wrong, but I think pears need another tree somewhere nearby for pollination? If the flowers have been pollinated, you should now be seeing tiny little immature pears where the blossoms have fallen off. If you don't have any of these, then I would say that it's likely that the flowers weren't pollinated.

soul619

my moms had the same thing happen to her pair tree this year i think it was the frost too as she's in the midlands.

she only has one tree and every year has an abundance of pears although i think she wont have any this year tis a shame as i like hard pears

dzug1

Pear trees (other than conference) need another tree for pollination

They can also need several years to become established. Ours did nothing for two years, then a couple of wizened fruit but a bumper crop most years since.

Baglady_2

Thanks for the replies. The little stalkythings I mentioned were actually tiny little pear looking things like Foxgloves said. I'm in north Kent, a bit further south than the Midlands, but it is quite windy. I think the variety I bought was dwarf, possibly self-pollinating, but I may be wrong. Can't remember now. Oh well, will just have to keep watering and feeding and hope for the best in future.

foxgloves

Yes, it would be a shame to give up on it. If it's a self-pollinating tree, then the most likely answer is that it was the old problem of it getting frosted right at the worst time. Even if you aren't going to have any pears this year, really give it loads of TLC & make it a bit longer project & see how it goes next year. When they get going, you do get a good crop most years. I'vve got an old conference pear tree & last year despite using pears in every way I could think of, I was still sending all our friends & visitors away with 7lb bags, swapping with another freind for eggs, etc, so don't give up. Concentrate on getting it as healthy as you can & see what happens.