Asian pears and rootstock

[Grapevine]

I am ordering my scions for 2025 and need advice on rootstock. I am planting in Z5a, Maine. I have a small collection in NH that has done very well on p.Betulaefolia. The Maine land will be colder, so wondering if anyone has experience with Asian pears on p. Ussuriensis.

[clarkinks]

@Grapevine

Here are a few threads worth viewing. I wont claim to be an expert on zone 5 growing like @smsmith @snowflake but i do grow harbin pears and have grown asian pears on harbin.

Harbin rootstock aka Pyrus ussuriensis aka siberian pears

Many people have asked what harbin pears look like many times. These are not callery they are harbin. [20230430_164520] [20230430_164538]

Relationship of pear decline - psylla - P. ussuriensis aka harbin and P. pyrifolia

I’ve seen many posts recently inquiring about Harbin pears which are commonly sold for orchardists in the North. Many people want very large pears but in warmer zones I’d suggest BET rootstocks for larger pears Pear Decline | USU " HOSTS Pear DESCRIPTION Pear decline is caused by Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri transmitted by pear psylla. Grafting and budding can also transmit this phytoplasma. Decline is much more prevalent on trees with rootstocks of Pyrus ussuriensis or P. pyrifolia than …

Asian Pears on Harbin rootstock

Someone has no doubt told me before but if @alan or @Lucky_P could remind me how big Asian pears get on harbin I would appreciate it. I’m guessing 20-30 feet. Anyone else have experience with them. Yes I’m growing them and trying to remember how big my ladder is going to need to be when they are full grown.

Euro pears on Ussurian rootstock

Sue I know your zone 3 so harbin might be the best option but what are you planning to graft to them? I’m assuming some of these varities https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/trees/handbook/th-3-91.pdf. @Lucky_P once upon a time got pears from a nursery on harbin. I’m putting Asian pears on harbin this year but that’s a very different situation. Harbin get very large with euro pears on them and can get decline. You might look at this old thread Rootstock for Ure, Golden Spice and Early Gold pear. My unders…

Healing in the Oxf and harbin pear rootstocks

Saving these rootstocks for a rainy day literally. Hopefully I can plant these soon. To dry to plant these rootstocks today. I always save a spot or two on my land when I need it for something like this. Healing in trees has been something I’ve needed to do from time to time. [image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image]

Pyrus Betulifolia rootstock aka BET pear rootstock aka Birch leaf pear rootstock

Harbin is another pear rootstock that is rarely used but the defunct Bear Creek nursery used to use for Asian pears because of it’s high level of cold tolerance. I have a nice Korean Giant I ordered from them over 25 years ago on it and it is the nicest Asian pear tree in form and vigor I have anywhere. Betula is my second pick for A pear roostock after Harbin. I’ve heard from nurserymen that there is a wide range of hardiness in various strains of Bet. but trees I order on it have never s…

Grafting large Callery and Betulifolia pear rootstocks

The weather is cool so I see no reason not to use it to my advantage while we have it. This is a BET rootstock and I love these trees! There is very few rootstocks that do better than callery and BET and the hybrids of the two types. Harbin are more difficult for me to work with. Sometimes harbin grow really slow here in Kansas so i really never know what to expect from them. It sounds really bad but it’s my opinion these BET are better to graft after they are considered a little to big. Whe…

Things you should know

Rootstock for Ure, Golden Spice and Early Gold pear

I’m far from an expert on cold hardy pears but for starters we know the pears you mentioned are hybrids of Pyrus ussuriensis x Pyrus communis. Some nurseries specialize in cold hardy pears such as http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/pears.html. SLN nursery uses two rootstocks which they state “The rootstocks we use for our pear varieties are Pyrus communis (for European-type pears) and Pyrus ussuriensis (for ussuriensis crosses)” . Your zone is very cold at times in the winter so I suspect it would …

[smsmith]

I’ve only got Taylor Apple Pear and Okolo for Asian pears (or hybrids?). Both are on ussurian rootstocks. Both grow very well. Both have seen plenty of -20 to -28 with zero damage. Neither have been through a real “test winter” yet, but i expect they’ll be just fine.

[Grapevine]

Thanks! I have a few new grafts on ussurian rs and have followed St Lawrence Nursery for a while, which uses some of the same for their hardiest pears. I have read there is some level of decline with ussurian rs. However, I also know betulaefolia rs is fire blight suseptible and I have FB already, so I guess I need to choose. However, I have a friend who owns a nursery and grows hardy fruit trees in VT. He is using OHF97 for his Asian pears and they are doing very well.

[Grapevine]

Thanks Clark. Great reading, not sure why I couldn’t find those. If ussurian is hardiest but can have pear decline, and betulaefolia is commonly used, less hardy and suseptible to FB, is OHF97 a good choice? I have FB now, so trying to give these a reasonable chance.

[smsmith]

I have a number of Euro pears on ussurian too. No issues with pear decline yet, but my trees are young.

I have a number of pears on OHxF97 as well. Once established for a few years they do ok. If a young tree on 97 gets hit with -20 or lower with no snow cover its likely dead. I won’t graft to 97 any more. I’ll stick to seedling Ussurian and common domestic pear from proven winter hardy trees.

Good luck with your pears in ME

[Grapevine]

Great feedback, thanks!

[snowflake]

@grapevine @smsmith @clarkinks

I have asian pears on a variety of rootstock including betulaefolia, xerophilia and ohxf. I hit about -30F a few years ago and the rootstocks had no problems although I did have some snow cover at the time. The only issue I had was burn back on the varieties on top. Korean giant for example got zapped pretty hard but I seem to recall that I only had to prune back dead wood about 1 or 2 feet from each tip. The other varieties (a wide variety) were not hurt as severely as Korean giant.

[alanmercieca]

So it’s not uncommon for asian pears to be able to survive -30F?

What Asian pear varieties did you have when it hit -30? I thought that most of them had no chance at that cold, even buried in snow.

[snowflake]

@alanmercieca

What Asian pear varieties did you have when it hit -30?

More than I care to list. At least 20. I’m sure that the snow helped, but I suspect that the news of their lack of hardiness might be about as good as the reports of Korean giant being more cold hardy. At least they were fine to -30 (which won’t happen often here). I have more problems with it being too dry or FB than cold.