Beth Pear
Pollination & Compatibility Guide
Beth pear pollination guide: East Malling breeding, early harvest timing, Quince C affinity, and diploid pollinizer companion pairings.
Beth is Self-Sterile (Needs 1 Diploid Partner)
Do not plant Bartlett (Williams' Bon Chrétien) as Beth's pollinizer — it is a direct parent. Conference, Comice and Beurré Hardy are all clean partners of overlapping bloom. Beth needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 2–4 to set a reliable crop.
- Chromosome Ploidy
- Diploid (2n)
- Required Companions
- 1 Diploid Partner
- Bloom Group
- Group 3 (Early-Spring)
- Harvest Timing
- Early (-25d from Conference)
Flowering Period & Overlap Window
Pear flowering periods are compressed into numbered bloom groups (1 through 4). Cross-pollination requires overlapping blossom timing between genetically compatible cultivars, with Asian pears flowering 7–14 days ahead of mid-season European varieties.
Any compatible diploid pear flowering within Group 2 to 4 provides matching blossom overlap.
Compatible Pollination Partners (21)
| Cultivar | Bloom Group | Overlap Type | Harvest | Primary Uses | Interactive Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±3d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Early ±11d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±18d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±18d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±25d delta | Fresh Eating, Cooking | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±25d delta | Fresh Eating, Cooking | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±39d delta | Fresh Eating, Baking | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±39d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±39d delta | Fresh Eating, Storage | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±39d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±46d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early Concurrent (±0d) | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±4d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±5d delta | Canning, Jelly | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±11d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross |
Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (5)
These pear varieties overlap in flowering time with Beth but cannot fertilise it due to non-viable pollen (male-sterile diploids), direct parentage exclusions, or shared incompatibility alleles.
A direct parent (Williams' Bon Chrétien × Beurré Superfin) — roughly half the pollen is non-functional, so it is not a reliable partner.
Gourmet produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Luscious produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Magness produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Warren produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Pomological Assessment: Precocious Bearing, Quince Affinity & Early Season Dessert
Bred at the East Malling Research Station from a cross between Williams' Bon Chrétien and Beurré Superfin, Beth was selected to provide commercial and garden growers with an early-ripening dessert pear of refined melting texture. The fruit is small-to-medium, pale yellow with light russeting, and offers sweet, juicy, fine-grained flesh.
Beth is a diploid cultivar flowering in Bloom Group 3. It produces abundant, fertile pollen and readily cross-pollinates with Conference, Concorde, Williams (Bartlett), and Beurré Bosc. The tree is exceptionally precocious, frequently setting fruit on two-year-old wood, and maintains regular annual cropping without pronounced biennial tendency.
Because Beth carries naturally moderate tree vigour and short branching habit, it is particularly well adapted to intensive dwarf rootstocks. It crops reliably across varied spring weather and rarely requires heavy fruitlet thinning to maintain balanced tree energy. Its compact growth habit and early fruit maturity make Beth an excellent choice for local direct-market farm stands seeking to open the pear marketing season ahead of maincrop Conference and Bartlett harvests.
Key Orchard Considerations for Beth
Exhibits outstanding direct compatibility with Quince A and Quince C rootstocks. On Quince C, Beth forms a compact, highly productive spindle or cordon tree ideal for intensive high-density rows.
Displays solid resistance to pear scab under temperate maritime conditions. Moderate tolerance to spring frost damage ensures reliable fruit set across variable early seasons.
Picks very early (late August to early September in northern blocks). Because flesh softens quickly once picked, fruit should be marketed fresh or consumed within 10–14 days of harvest.
Take Beth from Planning to Planting
Use Kropigo's free browser tools to model your block density, tree counts, and pollinizer rows, then maintain permanent orchard records row by row.
Pollination Checker
Check Beth against supported cultivars with compatible flowering and pollination data.
Commercial Block Planner
Calculate high-density tree spacing, row geometry, and establishment costs.
Block Record Keeping
Track pruning, chemical thinning, and harvest tallies block by block from the orchard.