Thanks for the reminder. Since that 2020 post we have grown callery rootstock. As you know, Willamette is not selling calleryana due to so many eastern states outlawing its use. It is still my favorite here. There doesn’t seem to be any significant evidence that it’s invasive under our conditions.
But, that said, we may have compatibility problems with some of our seedlings.
Bet grows too fast here and seems to result in more fire blight. Personally, I want smaller trees. But I’m only growing for family and friends. I may try more OHxF 97. 87 seems like it grows too slowly, and, of course, 333 has its problems.
BTW I read on another thread your comment that Warren will act as a pollinator. I was under the impression that it is pollen sterile like Magness. The blossoms look the same to me but maybe I have not been a good observer.
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@mayhaw9999
It is interesting that Warren is partially self pollinating. If you observe very closely a cluster of many blooms, only half will pollinate. I grafted Karls favorite aka ewart to the same tree. That is my way of ensuring warren gets more pollen than normal. Could do the same thing by planting them close together. Karls favorite is an extremely heavy producer. My warren pear produces very heavy for warren. I enjoy karls favorite very much also, so it worked out great.
Magness on the other hand does not do well for me here. It produces but i have the opposite problem everyone else does with magness being a shy bearer. Naturally i thought someone mixed up warren and magness so i ordered maagness many more times with the same results every time. Finally i realized warren was going to be my heavy producer. Should i graft Karls Favorite on magness? Maybe i should then the test would be more accurate. Callery are excellent rootstock but they have been added to the invasive list in Kansas and no more are being planted as of this year. BET is my new choice for rootstock but i understand it does grow to fast it has blown my grafts off with growth. Im finding ways to slow it down a bit. The more i work with it i will provide you an update. Ohxf does not work great for me here but it works ok. The problems are numerous with it being loved by deer and rabbits and voles but can be overcome.
The bloom season for Warren was so brief this year that I didn’t even have a chance to look at the blossoms. I think that Warren will set parthenocarpically under California conditions as will Bartlett but the crops will be small. My Magness has been setting good crops for the past several years as several new pear varieties have started blooming near the tree. Up until then, it was a shy bearer. Here is something from UC Davis:
Bartlett pears can set fruit with pollination or via vegetative parthenocarpy, without differences in fruit yield. Bartletts commonly set fruit parthenocarpically in California (Reil 2007). To ensure some fruit set via outcrossing, and enhance fruit set in a parthenocarpic orchard, bees can be used to optimize fruit yield. Some California pear growers plant pollinizer trees to maximize outcrossing, with bee hives placed nearby prior to bloom and extending throughout the bloom period (Reil 2007). Outcrossed trees have a tendency to alternate bear, while parthenocarpic tree yields are relatively consistent across years (Elkins, Van Den Ende and Beutel 2007).
I need to get Karl’s Favorite - AKA Ewart. It sounds like a pear that I would like to grow.
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