Selecting the Best Apples and Pears - Yes, Asian Pears Too!

Read this as you are listening to my podcast, "Selecting the Best Apples and Pears". I will mention updates on this list that was created in 2009.

Apples – Not all apples do well in southern Nevada and range from “best apple ever tasted” to “tasteless” depending on variety

Recommended dwarfing rootstock: M111; avoid extreme dwarfing rootstocks due to fruit sunburn because of too much fruit exposure.

Top Choice

·       Dorsett Golden – Early Season, yellow fruit

·       Pink Lady (Cripps Pink)  – Late Season, red over green fruit

Notable Mention

·       Anna – Early season

·       Einshemer – Early season

·       Fuji – Mid season

·       Gordon – Mid season

·       Mutsu (Crispin) – Mid season

·       White Winter Pearmain – Mid to late season

Under Review

·       Akane

·       Arkansas Black

·       Asmead Kernel

·       Babe (Genetic Dwarf)

·       Gala

·       Granny Smith

·       Red Fuji

·       Scarlet Sentinel Columnar

·       Yellow Newton Pippen

Asian Pear – Performs surprisingly well in our climate and we are currently working on increasing the size of the fruit

Recommended Rootstock: OHxF333 but others have performed well

Under Review

·       Chojuro

·       Hosui

·       Kikusui

·       Shinko

·       Shinseiki

·       Tsu Li

·       Twentieth Century

·       Ya Li

Pear, European – European pears do quite well in taste but may not have the same visual appeal as commercially grown pears. Most are “dessert” pears and grown for fresh eating.

Recommended Rootstock: Many

Top Choice

·    Kieffer – Salad pear, nicknamed “Jicama pear” with flavor resembling an Asian pear, good for canning and baking and virtually pest free

Honorable Mention

·       Bartlett

·       Monterrey

·       Red Bartlett

Under Review

·       Bosc

·       California

·       Comice

·       D’Anjou

·       Hood