A small orchard

This is all great. How big are the grafts? maybe 12 inches, longer? Best time? I am thinking pears here.

Thanks, itā€™s 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.

:wink:

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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? Iā€™ve never really heard of serious fire blight in the PNW lowlands, but I donā€™t grow any susceptible stuff really so wouldnā€™t know from personal experience.

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I donā€™t 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 hasnā€™t 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 donā€™t 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 donā€™t want that in my yard.

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