Thanks John good to know it’s useful.
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Tony,
How far along are your fruit buds this year on your pears? I was looking forward to your pear posts but I’m concerned this weather will kill most of our blossoms. I figure you will cover your tree with an electric blanket or hang lights.
Clark,
My Euro and Asian pears all are in tight clusters. They slow down a bit from the Icy and snowy storm about 10 days ago. The weather looks bad until next Thursday and I am hoping that they stayed in tight clusters until then. Crazy year again.
Tony
Here is the whole month weather for Omaha.
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I have a new century asian pear that suffered some damage last winter but it is still growing. Its about 5 years old but only produced a couple fruit this year and several branches died completely. Id like to make some copies of it. Anyone recommend a hardy rootstock to try with this pear? I got it from Starks originally…
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I would recommend any rootstock but ohxf333. BET is best in my opinion.
Wood 
this work?
http://lincolnoakes.com/stock/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=253&idcategory=11
What type of graft do you recommend that has a high success rate and is fairly easy to create?
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Derek in our local Home Orchard Society, we only use Asian pear rootstock for Asian pears. I think it’s called pyrus betulina. I think there are compatibility issues if not.
John S
PDX OR
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I use calllery pear for all my Asian pears, but I use an Asian/Euro hybrid interstem that has proven to work well with Callery.
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That is also the method I use and it has worked without any issues.
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@TheDerek Harbin aka Ussurian sometimes suffer from pear decline if psylla are present and if European pear are grafted to them but yes they work very well in colder regions. Harbin pears get huge! Why not use http://www.willamettenurseries.com/fruit-tree-seedlings/pears/betulaefolia-pear under Asian pears
Why not use Callery or Bradford Pear | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings under European pears
Use Harbin Pear | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings when you need a large tree or a big tree. Remember what I said about psylla and pear decline which won’t effect Asian pears like that.
When European pears won’t work on callery they work on Bartlett or Common Pear | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings which is a fire blight magnet
Compare them all in one spot here FRUIT TREE SEEDLINGS | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings
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In cold areas (4a or lower), harbin/ussurian pear is really the only viable long term choice. I’ve been grafting to OHxF 97 and have lost young trees to winter damage. From here on, the only rootstock I’ll use is harbin pear. I do know that pyrus communis is being used by St. Lawrence Nursery for many of their European pears. My experience with common pear rootstocks has been mixed. Some are cold hardy and some aren’t. I have come to the conclusion that what may be “winter hardy” in the northeast U.S. may not be winter hardy in areas that don’t receive consistent snowfalls (like central/west central MN).
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I agree, betulifolia is a good choice. I’ve also heard that the Asian fruit can be quite large on this rootstock. I have a few on betulifolia and really like them, but they do seem to sucker a little more than Callery, which can be a problem since they are fireblight susceptible. In my soil, Callery is king. It can handle the extremes of soggy muck during the winter to concrete during a droughty summer.
I graft all my Asians that I sell on callery with hybrid interstems. I do not advertise as such because it would lead to some confusion and lots of questions. I wish my customers knew what a good combo this is.
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Yes, Clark and Bambooman have it: betulifolia. I was close.
I have read that Callery and perhaps Bradford are fast growing but break in wind (break like the wind), so the interstem sounds like a great idea if you’re willing to do the work.
I live in a mild winter area so the special cold hardy rootstock isn’t necessary here.
John S
PDX OR
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Bradford is P. calleryana. I have put my blade to calleryana, communis, and pyrifolia many times. Callery is a harder and stronger wood. The only reason Bradfords break is bacause of narrow crotch angles, which then leads to rot. Proper training of any tree is important to avoid these crotch angles.
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Your right about the breaking but it is due to an enormous amount of limbs at one location and they tend to point upward. At 15-20 years these limbs start to break out. My opinion is that the problem is as described can be a problem but not in the case where it is grafted and the limb structure is totally different.
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Great info, Bambooman and Auburn!
John S
PDX OR
Wild callery is very different wood from a true Bradford. Bradford pears are not fun to graft in my experience and the wood is very soft.
That’s good to know. I’ve never grafted a true Bradford just their thorny cousins grown specifically for rootstock.
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The true Bradford has bark that slips a little to easy so much so it peels away when your trying to rind or cleft graft it. The wood itself is weak and light like poplar. It’s not any thing I want to work with. The first storm that comes along breaks every branch. It’s short lived and gets fire blight easy .They get very tall.The seedlings are nice trees.
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I grafted several hundred pears all onto Callery. With a repetitive tasks such as this, small differences in wood density become obvious. I strongly believe Callery is the best full sized choice for a large portion of America.
I have been toying around with quince as rootstock, which does have some benefits. I even thought of using a full sized understock with a quince interstem, then partially bury this quince interstem. You have the benefits of a precocious pear that has more tolerance to challenging conditions than a quince rootstock. I know… there are compatibility (and other) issues with quince.
Sorry to get off topic.
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