What is growing on my pears on my pear tree?

Question

On some of my pears on the pear tree, there is this odd growth on it. It's kinda of like dandelions I guess, I don't know how to describe it. Out of like 20 pears on the tree we picked today, we saw 2 pears that that were still on the branches that had this super weird white growth on it. It's fuzzy & white like dandelions, but super tiny like needles coz it's got a white fuzzy head & the bottom is thin like a needle stuck into the pear. Now if it was a patch of this weird fuzzy growth, I wouldn't be so freaked out, the weird thing about this is that, it's not a patch or a line of this weird growth that looks like white needles stuck to the pears, but it grows lined up in a perfect spiral shape about 1 inch wide...!!!!!!! These white fuzzy needles grow away out of the pears about a half inch off the surface of the pears...weird. Does anyone know what this could be??? Is my 15+yr pear tree infected with some weird disease or something? Or contaminated by an insect? Thanks!

Answer 1

What you saw is almost assuredly a fungal spore growth, probably a secondary growth on a bit of dead tissue. What happens a lot is that a fruit or plant has a problem and then a fungus sets in. The little growth you saw was a whole lot like dandelions as the little fuzzies break apart and blow away to land and grow somewhere else. It is probably not host specific, in that it is just one of those molds associated with what we commonly call "rot". It could be a sign though that there is an underlying problem, but as it is limited to just two fruits on the tree, it is either not a problem at all or one caught before it gets real bad. There is a slim possibility that you might be having the beginning of something like Baldwin spot, which is these little corky raised spots on the fruit, they might then get a moldy fungus like you saw if the spots are wet or get damaged. That, if it is the case, is a sign that your tree needs calcium, and lime on the soil yearly is important to do, along with the fertilizer. Those spots could have been caused by insect damage, wind damage, disease, birds, and the secondary mold gets the damaged part. The symptoms you describe don't account for any other disease but what I noted, however, take another real close look at the tree as a whole and question anything that isn't quite right. There may be other symptoms that are glaring that you did not mention. In the mean time, make sure that you get rid of the damaged fruit and make your fall clean up really extra good. Diseases carry over to the next year in the litter of leaves and sticks. What was a tiny thing now could be horrible next year if left unchecked. Make sure that you do your dormant oil in the earliest spring, and if you have not, look it up and do it. It is still early enough to give it some lime and fertilizer before it winds down for the year but don't go over heavy on the food because it will not want that when it gets ready for the winter. Give me a hollar if you find anything questionable.