Squishy pears

[glaw5]

Hi, we moved into our house nearly two years ago and I've since picked up the gardening bug.

We had a pear tree already in the garden (not sure which sort) but the pears don't seem to ripen to the point they can be eaten like the supermarket ones. When I picked them last year I put them in the fruit bowl and the skin sort of shrivelled a bit while the inside of the pear stayed hard. When I picked them off the tree this year I put them all in a cardboard box which I put in semi-darkness. A couple of weeks on and they have now gone a kind of yellow colour and a lot have turned rotten/squishy under the skin and have been thrown on the compost bin.

Is there someone in the know who can tell me what I'm doing wrong or what should be the right way to look after them so I don't make the same mistake again next year.

Thanks for any help,

Gareth

[starloc]

Ive put mine next to the apples in the upstairs bathroom ( never used, unheated, very cold with window open ) , i put them on shelves made out of mesh to let air through , they get no direct light and were harvested before they were ripe, some at the start of september and every couple of weeks since, ive no idea on variety as i keep finding roadside trees as i drive round the country, im making a fruit map!

The early ones have now ripened up a golden yellow not rotted under the skins but im going to have to eat them soon , a few have gone bad here and there were they were bashed
the later picked ones were going red when i picked them ( different tree ) still very hard, need to be cooked, the later harvested ones from the red tree are now yellow and red and nice to eat but still harder than the yellow ones

It does depend on the variety, books say some dont store at all

If you confine them in a box the gas will build up and ripen them quickly, good airflow is needed to stop ethylene gas build up ripening the fruit rapidly

[glaw5]

Thanks for the advice starloc. Have spread the few I've got left out. Ate one this morning which seemed to be fine but have lost a few more. Think I'll have to get a better plan of action next year!