Callery pear seedlings have became a problem in Kansas. Been a long time advocate of grafting over wild pears and using them. My belief now is when planting rootstocks go with Betulaefolia aka BET.
BET work as good or better for me in most situations and they are inexpensive. Betulaefolia Pear | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings
In Kansas we need drought tolerant tough rootstocks like callery or bet if we are going to have a crop at my location.
I cannot find pears on Bet being sold already grafted. I have found pears on OHxF 97 and Callery being sold. I am not sure what standard sized tree stark bros sent me as they donāt mention rootstock but it does not sucker much so unlikely callery. Of the standard sized pears I have found they are rare and typically more expensive but they are the Comice from Nature hills on callery rootstock but 92 dollars (their Warren in labeled as Callery but was sent on OHxF 333), edible landscaping sells Warren as a standard sized pear on Callery but charged me 60 dollars in shipping for it. I found edible landscaping has magness on standard size too but cannot find the place I found selling pears on OHxF 97.
I know of hundreds of callery volunteers on public rights-of-way, and thatās going to be the source of my pear rootstocks next year. Iāll reduce the roadside invasives and also get free trees except for the labor.
Still trying to decide on apple roots for next time.
Yes, M111 is plenty hardy at least to -20 F
but, itās so slow to begin fruiting that I keep grumbling every time I
happen to buy and plant one.
(Only Niedzwetzkyana has cropped the first yearā¦on a plant already 2 years old bare rootā¦on a M111 for me. I have a couple trees on M111 7th season still no bloomsā¦not counting the year or two of life before I bought the trees.) M7 is fine here, but also pretty slow. MM106 is good if the soil is fertile and drains wellā¦the wait isnāt as long to get fruit).
M111 is not hardy if it breaks dormancy and then the roots freezeā¦it dies. I have several cadavers to prove it.
M111 is my favorite, but sadly I have to agree they are slow. Mine are even worse. Each year they tease me with a fruit or two. Then the usual maybe next year.
I know itās not free, but the 97 is a pretty good rootstock as well for pear.
Both OH x F 97 and 87 have disappointed in the lack of growth. OH x F 333 much better in that regard. But callery pear seedlings far and away put on the most growth for me. In one case up to 8 feet.
Iāve got some 97 that has done pretty good. I didnāt graft them or they would be callery too. I love the more standard rootstocks.
Standard size rootstock has not grown too quickly for me compared to semi dwarf rootstock. I have apples, cherries and pears on standard (unknown rootstock for my seckle pear and 2 standard sized Zestar! but I know it is standard rootstock). My standard size pear and apples have put out maybe up to a foot max of growth in their first year. I had a callery Warren pear which put out no new growth all summer. My Black gold on Mazzard has put out less than a foot of growth over the first year. Meanwhile my pears and apples on OHxF 87, M26 and M111 rootstock have put out a few feet. My cherries are two years old but likely around 20 feet from one cherry that put out 3 feet itās first year is my black gold on Mazzard which puts out very little.
Every location is very different. Mm111 seems to do well everywhere but im sure there is some place it doesnāt. Pear rootstocks it seems that everyone has different results in different places. One thing we know callery and BET will live everywhere. Thats why callery is considered invasive in some places now.
M111 (and M7) indeed do well except in the frozen north. But they take so long to fruit.
The G (Geneva) and B (Budagovsky) are better in that regard.
Calleryā¦thatās one of the things I probably learned from you ā¦ how good it is for grafting and converting to other pear varieties.
Itās Been most impressive the past 29 months or so.
M111 is usually a pretty big tree by the time they kick in gear. But when they get going they explode with tons of fruit. Iām M111 and Callery all the way. Standard rootstocks are the best. IMO
Many know i am an advocate of self reliance. Part of being an orchardist i believe is having independence. Certain trees provide us bountiful harvests. Reliance on a food system that failed many of us the last several years would be naive. Seedling rootstock is free or inexpensive and much hardier than anything else. I will always believe people should have the power of knowledge to look out for themselves. Many of us live our lives focused on the greater good of all people. Long after iām gone i believe people will use my inexpensive or free methods of grafting for producing food. Some day the methods we use on this forum will very likely save many people from suffering from hunger.
How āsusceptible to fire blightā (per the product description) are the BET rootstocks?ā¦compared to Callery
I donāt know how bad it usually is here, but my 50 year old pear was attacked last year after I pruned it hard, over-fertilized and we had a warm wet Spring 
Lots of lessons learned through that and reading here. Hopefully it bounces back this year.
I have 16 varieties growing on callery and 97 but only 1 year in ground.
I plan to start grafting next year to multiply them, and trying to decide on rootstock.
Never had problems with fireblight on BET, but in Lousiana, if i were you, i would stick with what you know works. BET are not completely immune to fireblight. Most callery are highly resistant to fireblight. There are some callery varieties that do get fireblight.
Good points.
Iāll look at the suggested link.
I still have ornamental seedlings coming from Cold Stream Farm so I probably graft a portion of them, but may just plant some of them in containers for a future decision. (I do have some small scions that Iāve not yet used, so hoping for a size match on some seedlings.)
Iāve certainly seen fireblight on Bradford pears, the named clone. But, it seldom kills any trees, just young limbs.