If you ordered pear scions from the USDA you know already they were not sent out. For those of us who ordered rootstocks they may not be sent out depending on location. I’m not sure why none of us were notified how big the problem actually is but here’s an article you might be interested in reading http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/12/bacteria_found_in_hood_river_p.html. Many rootstocks are produced in Oregon.
It was unclear how big of a deal it would be until quite recently. What kind of communication would you have expected?
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I really hope my pear root stock supplier hasnt neglected to tell me that my pear root stocks will not be coming this year. I just emailed them. I will be VERY unhappy if they arent shipping them and didnt give me a chance to find a replacement supplier.
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Think we have some rootstocks coming out of Oregon. Just an email that said rootstocks are being delayed or cancelled so we know what we need to do. We are still unclear if that’s what’s actually happening.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Lawyer Nursery is sending my bet rootstocks but they are only 1/8 inch. Thankfully Lawyers are not in oregon but many rootstock growers are. We may have to fall back on our callery rootstocks and interstem. Wish i knew sooner.
It is only certain counties that are currently prohibited, and supposedly only places that haven’t been given the go-ahead. After much waiting, we’ve learned that we will be getting rootstock for the scion exchange near Portland. I’m not sure who the supplier is.
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That sounds encouraging Murky thanks for letting us know.
I saw that it was certain counties and unfortunately my supplier is in one of those counties. We will see what they say.
Copenhaven?
They will say there is a quarinine
Yes Copenhaven. I just got my email from them. They said that it is still in affect, but in their words “very close to having it resolved”. Hope that means by the first week of April! I would feel a lot better about the situation if they had been proactive and emailed me first, by not doing so it feels like they were trying to keep their customers in the dark. I really like doing business with them, they have always have been helpful and friendly.
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Hopefully it is just that they are confident that they will be able to ship - eventually, and didn’t want to add to the drama, or unnecessarily worry people. Most folks are oblivious that this disease exists.
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Is anyone aware if Corvallis believes that the germplasm it distributed in 2015 was infected or if it is trying to test that?
That’s a good question. As far as I know, I don’t believe the infection was found in dessert or culinary pears at the repository. I also have heard that there are trees of these same varieties that raised the concern, elsewhere in Oregon, that have since tested free of the bacteria (and these trees were created with scions from the repository). That implies that the infection is new/recent.
I got a info brochure email link from ARS/GRIN last night. I would assume from that there will definitely not be any scion distribution from Corvalis this year.
Some further info about the situation and the bacterium. The bacteria was found in Perry Pear at Corvalis. 16 states in the USA already have the bacterium present, not as a result of this latest incident in Oregon. The bacterium can be found in a number of plant species. The bacterium generally is only found in warm, humid climates. Seems like the biggest stumbling block is that Oregon wants to contain it or create a certified bacterium free zone in order to maintain the ability to ship to the European countries which prohibit or greatly restrict material coming from areas known to contain the bacterium.
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I received the email and pamphlet today discussing the virus. I’m glad they took the time to let us know and to educate us about the problem.
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Update…
Got a email for ARS saying they are not sending pears this year.
The quarantine was lifted on other pear nurseries in Oregon.
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Does this problem at Corvallis affect the status of all plant material they send out?In other words,if I didn’t order any Pear wood,is it still possible to get what was requested, mostly Vaccinium and Amelanchier scions? Brady
I just checked my order from Burnt Ridge, my pear rootstocks are backordered now. Wonder if that has something to do with all this? I hope they come, I have some scions that I really wanted to graft onto their own rootstocks instead of my multigraft trees.
Kelby,
If you get pinched for space-- there are some nurseries that still have good pears on good stocks available. I know a grafted tree is more expensive than a plain understock.
Adams (web), Cummins (web), Boyer’s (call), and WhiteOak (call) all have pear trees right now.
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Our pear rootstock orders are all coming through now. I got 520 trees coming 300 of which are here ( beautifolia pear 1/8") that need grown out a year or two for Asian pear and 220 callery , ohxf333, ohxf97 on the way. Once Corvallis reopens in a year or two after they eradicate the virus the 1/8 inch trees will be huge and I can get some test scions and try to grow some commercially. I will graft them a foot or more up now that I have the luxury. If I have any winners from the test crops I will graft to those. This heavy clay soil may even runt beautifolia trees but time will tell. A good pear crop will be 10 years in the making. Pear rootstocks such as calleryana , ussuriensis, beautifolia are much cheaper in volume typically 50¢ - $1.00 depending on size. OHxF rootstocks are about twice the price so we pay for dwarfing and compatibility advantages which are worth it for the trees that need that long term.
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