Moonglow Pear
Pollination & Compatibility Guide
Moonglow pear pollination guide: Bloom Group 2 timing, universal pollinizer utility, USDA blight-resistant breeding, and early harvest.
Moonglow is Self-Sterile (Needs 1 Diploid Partner)
A heavy, reliable bloomer widely specified as a pollinizer for early-to-mid season pears. Moonglow needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 1–3 to set a reliable crop.
- Chromosome Ploidy
- Diploid (2n)
- Required Companions
- 1 Diploid Partner
- Bloom Group
- Group 2 (Early-Spring)
- Harvest Timing
- Early (-21d 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 1 to 3 provides matching blossom overlap.
Compatible Pollination Partners (20)
| Cultivar | Bloom Group | Overlap Type | Harvest | Primary Uses | Interactive Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±1d delta | Canning, Jelly | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±4d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±7d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±14d delta | Fresh Eating, Pickling | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Early ±4d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±7d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±7d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Early ±7d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±14d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±14d delta | Fresh Eating, Canning | Test Cross | |
| Group 1 | Full Overlap | Mid ±14d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Mid ±21d delta | Fresh Eating, Cooking | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±21d delta | Fresh Eating, Cooking | Test Cross | |
| Group 1 | Full Overlap | Mid ±28d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 3 | Full Overlap | Late ±35d delta | Fresh Eating, Baking | Test Cross |
Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (4)
These pear varieties overlap in flowering time with Moonglow but cannot fertilise it due to non-viable pollen (male-sterile diploids), direct parentage exclusions, or shared incompatibility alleles.
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: Early Flowering, Universal Donor Utility & Blight Defense
Released by the USDA Beltsville research station in 1960, Moonglow was developed specifically as a high-quality, fire-blight-resistant pear to pollinate early and mid-season orchards. The fruit is large, brownish-yellow with a slight blush, offering soft, juicy, mildly sub-acid flesh with low grit.
Moonglow is an early-flowering diploid placed in Bloom Group 2. Because it produces copious amounts of high-viability pollen across an extended bloom window, it serves as an outstanding pollinizer for early diploids like Harrow Delight and Seckel, as well as early-blooming Bartlett blocks.
The tree is upright and moderately vigorous, bearing on productive spur systems. It settles into bearing early in orchard life, providing reliable bloom volume that makes it an indispensable management tool in mixed commercial pear blocks. Its dense spur habit and early bloom timing make Moonglow an effective perimeter or inter-row pollinizer tree, providing abundant pollen distribution across commercial blocks while generating marketable early-season fruit.
Key Orchard Considerations for Moonglow
Highly productive on OHxF 87 rootstocks, initiating fruit bearing within three years of planting. Shows good union strength and uniform tree vigour.
Selected specifically for strong field resistance to fire blight, resisting blossom infection and limiting shoot blight spread.
Picks early—roughly two weeks before Bartlett. Fruit softens rapidly if allowed to mature too long on the branch; harvest when green-yellow and condition for two weeks in cool storage.
Take Moonglow 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 Moonglow 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.