This is all great. How big are the grafts? maybe 12 inches, longer? Best time? I am thinking pears here.
Thanks, itās all informative and fun. Already learned some new tricks for the old dog
Lots of info on this site on graftingā¦ search here for pear grafting and you will find plenty.
Also lots of folks on youtube showing various types of grafts. Check the vid above for a sample.
Below is a modified cleft graft i did back in Febā¦
Below what it looks like yesterday.
I normally limit the scion wood i am grafting on to two buds onlyā¦ so what you graft on is usually quite short. I left 3 buds on that kieffer scion and all 3 are growing out nicely.
2 buds would be plenty.
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Certain pears and apples are more prone to fire blight. Comice is one of them. You will want to look at weather patterns to see when to prune.
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Is fire blight an issue in Portland? Iāve never really heard of serious fire blight in the PNW lowlands, but I donāt grow any susceptible stuff really so wouldnāt know from personal experience.
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I donāt live in Portland but hear it rains quite a bit there.
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I would love ti grow the Comice pear here in my orchard. I am just afraid I would end up with fireblight in my orchard. It is a great pear to eat and enjoy.
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Welcome to the forum. I am also in Portland and have quite a few as you have. Mine are a bit younger but I have had success with Italian prune plum, satsuma plum, shiro plum, honeycrisp apple, golden delicious apple, rainier cherry, hardy Chicago fig, LSU tiger fig, unk Bartlett style pear, Indian Free peach, frantoio olive, grapes, and berries. My comice pear hasnāt started fruiting yet as well as a few other fruits. Blueberries have been a big miss in my yard so far for some reason.
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I am guessing one of the others is Indian Free peach. Indian Free peach needs another kind of peach tree to set fruit.
Hiā¦thanks for the welcome. A few people have asked me about fire blight wwhich I have never heard of. Upon reading I was shocked at the damage caused by this blight, and it is in Oregon and Wash. sadly. I donāt have it, but do you? How about a circle around Portland for about fifty miles?
I have pretty good yields of blueberries, I fertilize 3rd week of march, 1st week of April , and then last week of June. I use ammonia sulfate at a rate of 2 Tb per plant, then water well.
What are you using for a dormant spray? I am using neem oil this year. Now if we can get some sun!!
And thats the reason wht I planted a Comice, flavor, sweetness and a wonderful variety of ways to eat it. I am reading and asking others about fire blight. Really donāt want that in my yard.
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This a follow up from last year. the green gage has flowered and the fruit has started. The crop is modest, all on older wood. I do have bumpy leaves and some curled with worm in it, so not so good. The āitalianā is heavy with fruit again as it was last year. I had given away tons and the squirrels got the rest.
My comice has set its first fruit after 5 years. I want to keep it no higher than 10-12 feet high and will prune it back when the season ends. Blueberries are producing well again and we really enjoyed picking them with the grand kids!! we have limited space in Portland, and have been thinking about trying to plant in central Oregon, the big problem is scarcity of waterā¦no well.
in the fall of last year my neigbor with the bartlett cut the entire tree down, losing my closest pollinator. Yet, somehow, we did get the blossoms pollinated and thereās a a nice start of fruit for its first year. Our Draper and Liberty blueberries have set fruit and weāre happy with that too.
I am definetly happy when garden work needs to be done. I can see the difference right away and the benefits for the short term as well as the long term. The heavy rains for the last week relented for a few hours this afternoon and the sun was warm, the sky blue. No way I want to be inside. I am very grateful to have started a small orchard and seen the gradual growth that I am a small part of. Lucky me.
Totally with you on that! This is my post retirement passion, although my orchard has been in the making for about 15 years.
I have signs in front of my 50 or so trees, and my young grandson spent the better part of a joyous hour pulling them up until I caught him. If that doesnāt bother me, there must be some magic pheromone oozing out of the trees. Iām hooked.
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