When do I pick Asian pears?

I suspect it will be the same as for apples. cup the apple firm but gently. lift and twist slightly. if ripe the fruit should leave the tree without having to be 'pulled'. Hope this helps.

Thank you Sbg! They're still firmly attached! Does the fruit stem stay with the pear, or with the tree? The ones I see in the store all have stems attached, but I know that they pick them green so they can be shipped around the world.

There shoud be a short stalk the 'abscisic' point is at the end of the short flower stalk where it grew from the wood. if that makes sense :o) It has lots of xylem strands in it to supply the developing fruit with all the water it needs and they run down the stalk.

So the stem stays with the pear?

i would expect so but tell me what happens :o)

Thanks Sbg! I just didn't quite understand your answer. Confusion uber alles! ; ) I'll let you know, but they're still stuck on, today.

sorry i didnt explain well. when ripe there should be a short stalk still attached to the pear, like in a typical pear. i quite enjoycupping the apples to see if they are ready. I'm very strange.......

"a harmless obsession", Seaburngirl! ; }

How did you fare with your pears?

My neighbor lost patience with them a month ago, and just ripped them off! Some were good enough, but most were kind of puckery. I figured that he should have waited at least 3 weeks, or maybe tried one first. There were only 10 pears on the tree, anyway, so trial material was pretty thin! Ah, well!