I have had problems getting Euro pears to produce so I am a major Quince A fan. They are also much better for a pedestrian orchard, as pears want to reach for the skies. If you are doing a ladder orchard you might be better off with larger stocks and waiting a bit longer for the crop. The main downside I have had with quince is rootstock sprouts - I am continually having to trim them back. More dwarfing trees often don’t live as long, but I don’t know about quince on that count.
No big experience with OHxF87 here, I did have a few but no longer. 333 has been fine for me. I have many 513’s, they have been the worst as it seems like they are taking even longer than my seedling stocks to bear. Maybe that is why 513 is not common any more.
… I looked around to see if there were any reports on Quince longevity, I’m not really sure it will be any worse as quince trees live a very long time (maybe not as long as pears, but 50+ years will keep you in the pear business for life). In the process I found this report from Australia where they report on quince vs some other stocks and conclude their pear industry should switch over to quince. https://www.horticulture.com.au/globalassets/laserfiche/assets/project-reports/ap10016/ap10016-final-report-133.pdf.
I would recommend quince for anyone whose winter temps are warm enough for it to be hardy.
thanks very much!
One nursery here in middle Tenn. (McMinnville) said they stopped growing pears on the OHxF series because they did not do well in their soil.
So, is there much difference between Quince A vs. Quince Provence (BA-29) as to fire blight resistance?? I read Quince BA-29 was more fire blight resistant, etc.
Also, is there a comprehensive list of pear varieties incompatible with quince?
Blessings,
Frank
I have been asking that question for a while now. Think I agree with your assessment. Quince do have long lives. Makes sense the graft would have equal life. I have several on quince and they are not really small trees. Mine are all near 15 feet. Just not as wide as others. I agree the suckers are annoying. No matter what you do they do not go away.
To the poster. Pears take a long time to start producing and quince really cuts into that time to fruit. I put in mostly more standard rootstocks, but put several on quince to get the ball rolling early. If you only have a small amount of space I would recommend the quince. If you have plenty of room do a mix like I did.
I am not aware of such a list. There are sooo many pear varieties and incompatibility not always is shown immediately. With some varities they will grow on quince rootstock for some years and then loose vigor or even decline/die. Because of that I will always use an interstem grafting pear onto quince. To me that seems to be the easiest solution. You can do your graft and the interstem at the same time.
This year I am starting to collect some more varieties. Doyenne du Comice (or comice) and Beurre Hardy are suitable as an interstem. I will use comice since that is a quality pear anyways and I definately will plant it. I already collected scions of it. Some of them will be my interstems.
Do you have certain varieties in mind? If they are grown in europe too I might find information about their compatability to quince. Asian pear for instance seems to be incompatible to Quince rootstock in the long run. Thats what I read. I did a direct graft of asian pear onto Quince A last year. It does not show any issue so far. Now that I am aware of a possible incompatibility I will save that variety and do another graft using comice as an interstem.
I have done many quince grafts where I do two grafts in one go. For example, wedge graft the scion to the interstem scionwood, then one minute later bark, cleft, or whatever the now two-variety scion into the quince stock. These seem to take nearly as well as direct grafts (i.e. they nearly all work). Make sure to remove all buds from the interstem so it is not tempted to sprout ahead of time.
Pear cultivars which appear to be compatible with quince (list from POMONA, 1985)
Abbe Fetel (Abate Fetel)
Alexandrine Douillard
Ananas de Courtrais
Aurora
Bartlett (Williams)
(French and Swiss compatible only)
Bloodgood
Beirschmitt
Belle Guerandaise
Beth
Beurre Alexandre Lucas
Beurre Anjou
Beurre Capiaumont
Beurre d’Amalis
Beurre Diel
Beurre Dubuisson
Beurre Gifford
Beurre Hardy
Beurre Superfin
Butira Precoce Morettini
California
Clara Frijs
Colette
Concorde
Conference
Dabney
Dawn
Devoe
Doyenne du Comice
Doyenne Gris
Dr. Desportes
Duchesse Bronzee
Duchess d’Angouleme
Durondeau
Early Seckel
Easter Beurre (Doyenne d’Hiver)
Fique d’Alencon
Emile d’Heyst
Flemish Beauty
Fondante d’Automne (Seigneur)
Fondante de Moulins-Lille
General Leclerc
Glou Morceau (Beurre d’Hardenpont)
Gorham
Grand Champion
Graf von Moltke
Harrow Delight (HW603)
Harvest Queen (HW602)
Highland
Howell
Jeanne d’Arc
Josephine de Malines
Kieffer
Laxton’s Superb
Louise Bonne de Jersey
Louis Pasteur
Magness
Maxine (Stark’s Delicious)
Old Home
Olivier de Serres
Onward
Passe Crassane
Pierre Corneille
Rogue Red
Santa Claus
St. Andre
Sierra
Sirrine
Sucree de Montlucon
Thompson’s
Tyson
Urbaniste
Vicar of Winkfield (Cure)
White Doyenne
Warren
Pear cultivars generally not doing well directly on Quince rootstock and needing an interstem (from POMONA, 1985). (Note: some incompatibilities are delayed…)
Bartlett, including sports
Belle Lucrative
Beurre d’Arenberg
Beurre Bosc
Beurre Clairgeau
Beurre Flon
Beurre Gris d’Hiver Nouveau
Beurre Six
Bristol Cross
Cayuga
Chaplin
Clapps Favorite
Comte de Lamy
Dana Hovey
Doyenne d’Ete
Dr. Jules Guyot
Duchess de Brodeaux
El Dorado
Epine de Mas (Duc de Bordeaux)
Ewart
Forelle
Honeysweet*
Jargonelle
Laurence
Laxton’s Progress
Leaxton’s Early Market
Lemon
Madame Treyve
Marie Louise
Marguerite Marillat
Merton Pride
Michaelmas Nellis
Moonglow
Olivier de Serres
Packham’s Triumph
Passe Colmar
President Heron
Seckel
Sheldon
Roi Charles de Wurtemberg (RCW)
Waite
Winter Nellis
Worden Seckel
*Honeysweet so far has been compatible for me grown as an espalier, but some
report that with free standing the union often fails.
I’ve seen this claim now for quite some time and I don’t understand it. Do we Swiss and the French have a slightly different sport of Williams that is quince compatible or do we have different quince rootstock? And if yes, why don’t other countries import this compatible plant material?
When transplanting trees from the nursery bed to the orchard this spring I found the roots of trees on OHxF333 to be brittle and I lost more of the root system on those trees than I did when transplanting the trees on OHxF97. The trees on 333 seemed to have more transplant shock than those on 97 as well. So I’m wondering if perhaps OHxF333 isn’t the best root stock to use if trees are being started in a nursery bed and moved to their permanent location. This is purely anecdotal. I haven’t completed moving the 333 trees, and I still have to move trees on OHxF87. I hope to move the remaining pear trees this fall. It will be interesting to compare the 333 and 87 to see if the 87 is more forgiving when transplanted. I also have 7 out of 10 remaining trees on Quince, grafted in 2018 that are doing surprisingly well in my climate. (Yes, these trees have been in the nursery bed too long, it took longer to get the orchard site cleared than originally anticipated).
THanks for your observations.
Those pears in my orchard on OHxF333 are low vigor and slow growing, and I am going to focus on using OHxF87.
I have also seen my pears on quince grow well.
Happy growing,
Frank
I like the 87 and 97. Have several on quince and they look great, but must be staked or they fall over. Not a fan. Also noticed that not all varieties fruit quick on quince.
Thanks for the tip! I bought an orchard with around a hundred pear trees, mostly on OHxF 87, but I’m interested in trying some on Quince. I’m in Zone 4b Minnesota. Do you know the hardiness of Quince A, Provence, or other quince?
I picked a lot of pears from grafts made in April 2020 this summer…all gone already. To a seedling callery I cut the top out of … it had been 12 feet tall and over 3" caliper…I butchered it pretty good, and got splendid results.
Has
6 varieties
on it…4 fruited already.
Okay, well, wish me luck then - I have 8 young quinces that have made it though 2 winters so far. The tops die back somewhat but the rootstocks have been fine so far.
I’ll stick with OHxF for my pears. There were a few here on Usuriensis(?) and they did not do well.