Pear tree not doing so well

[Paulfreebury]

I bought my old man a pear tree 3 years ago, and every year it is loaded with blossom yet once the fruit start forming it gets hit by something! the leaves have small white lumps on them I assume are some sort of egg then the leaves shrivel and turn black, the pears that are forming also turn black and drop off there are few tips that are also turning black and shrivelling! He has several apple trees that are 50 years old and he's worried it's going to hit them. Can anyone shed any light on what it could be and how we can treat it

Regards paul

[Graham]

Sounds like pear midge. The little critters hatch in the ground below the tree and fly up. Raking the ground below the tree may help as will a mulch over membrane.

[agg221]

I'd agree with the pear midge diagnosis. If you wait until autumn, then mulch with cardboard (bark/shreddings over to weight it down), they get trapped under it and wiped out. Renew the cardboard in spring to kill weeds and retain water, and again in autumn etc. but rake the mulch back each time rather than just piling it on top, as you want to keep the layer no more than a few inches thick.

 

Alec

[ben lightfoot]

Interesting thread as my mum had a similar sounding problem which i now have as its a potted tree, waiting to see the outcome of mine as its the first year i have had it. Good replies so far

[Paulfreebury]

Thankyou all for your replies, are all pear varieties susceptible to these midges and does soil type make any difference?

[agg221]

Thankyou all for your replies, are all pear varieties susceptible to these midges and does soil type make any difference?

 

Yes, all varieties are susceptible to some extent, although my observation was that Williams was far worse than Doyenne de Comice.

 

I don't think soil type makes much odds, so long as the midges can bury in to it. There's a story in one of my books (by Raymond Bush, written c.1942 I think) of someone getting so fed up with it that he stirred cement into the topsoil in the autumn. Apparently the following year he had an enormous crop and couldn't work out what to do with them so he never bothered again.

 

If you do follow the mulching with cardboard route, do the autumn mulch after the leaves are off.

 

Ben - with pot-grown trees it's good practice to dig out the top inch or so every winter when the tree is dormant and replace it (John Innes No.2). If you do this then you should wipe out the midges.

 

Alec

[ben lightfoot]

Thanks for that will give that a try