Pear tree withered branches, fat and water disorders
Tianjin Alcoa International Trade Co., Ltd. , https://www.tjalcoa.com
July 11 13:08:21, 2025
Last week, the author visited Shen Jinbing's pear orchard in Hanchuan City, Hubei Province. Shen used to work as a farmer group employee at Jidong Farm. He owns a 2.5-acre pear garden with 140 trees that are over 20 years old. On average, each tree produces about 100 kilograms of pears, and at a price of 1 yuan per kilogram, his annual income is roughly 14,000 yuan. This is 4,000 yuan less than what he earned in 2011. When asked why his income dropped, he mentioned that some branches have died off, but he isn't sure why.
During the field visit, Shen shared that five old trees were removed last year due to dead branches, and several others still show varying degrees of branch dieback. The question remains: should they be replaced or kept?
Upon observing the orchard, we tried to identify the root causes. From our previous experience with many old pear orchards, this kind of branch death occurs almost every year. The main reasons include:
First, calcium deficiency in the soil. When pear trees lack calcium, their root growth is hindered, leading to curled and dried root tips. In severe cases, this results in dead ends and branches. Although Shen applies phosphate fertilizer, the quality is low, and it’s only applied in spring, missing the opportunity for winter application.
Second, the soil has high sediment concentration and low boron content. Boron deficiency can cause bark sores and dry shoots. Third, potassium deficiency leads to leaf scorching and weak branch development. Potassium chloride is often under-applied and applied too late.
Fourth, the soil is compacted, and there hasn’t been deep winter plowing for five years. This makes the root system weak and reduces fertilizer efficiency. Fifth, there’s no proper drainage system around the orchard. Heavy rainfall exceeding 100 mm can cause waterlogging, which harms the roots by limiting oxygen availability.
Similar issues with dry and dead branches have been reported in other old pear orchards across different regions. After discussing with Shen, we decided to implement several measures to improve the environment, enhance the fertilizer structure, upgrade drainage systems, and renew the pear trees.
First, during the winter and spring seasons, we will dig drainage ditches around the orchard to prevent waterlogging from heavy rain. Second, we will manually deep-till the soil between the trees to a depth of 60-70 cm, as mechanical plowing is not suitable due to the large canopy size. Third, we will apply base fertilizer along with the deep-tilling, especially organic manure (8,000 kg). The recommended ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for high-yield pear trees is 1:0.5–1. We will use high-quality phosphate fertilizer containing 16%–18% P₂O₅, ideally mixed with organic fertilizer. For potassium, we will use fertilizer with 60% K₂O, and apply boron fertilizer with 15%–20% B, at least 2 kg per mu. All these should be done before the end of spring.
Fourth, when applying fertilizer, it should be placed at least one meter away from the trunk. Lastly, we will apply herbicides early in spring to control weeds, reducing competition with the root system and improving the symbiotic relationship. These steps aim to revitalize the orchard and restore its productivity.