Im guessing sunburn if those are the options. Its been like that for a few years.
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Slow growth, cracking bark, water sprouts below the affected area are all signs of virus infection.
I dont believe this tree had watersprouts from the rootstock. The picture is about 2 feet up with a new healthy-looking shoot growing off the trunk. The main trunk just fizzled out and looks bad but the new shoot looks fine even though the trunk above and below dont.
The pear next to it I have suspecions may be a watersprout rootstock. Its by far my thickest trunk (though not particularly tall for the girth). It almost seemed like it had thorns the past two years. I had to cut a watersprout back on that one twice. I thought i got it straightened out but i have my doubts with thorn-like growth and no pears on a precocious variety. The rootstock is ohx97. Perhaps they both got diseases.
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Hopefully everyone had a great year for grafting so far. Anyone have any problems with compatability? Seems like most people did well. I’m going to do a few more this year. Have another 60 or more extra rootstocks available. Want to save most of those for next year. They are all BET. Here are a few more i did the last couple of weeks.
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Here is one from last year. May have a few pears on it next year. We have been in a drought at my property or it would have caught up with the other pears in the photo by now. The ponds down about 4 or 5 foot and normally it would be full this time of year. Those cleft grafts heal quickly when done correctly.
This was the tree about 1 year ago in late May.
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Tree#1 is doing great today. Despite being chomped by deer, at what I thought to be a critical stage, it still set several feet of growth. It’s now got bigger canopy than every pear I planted since 2021.
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This callery is behind my tool shed and growing in somewhat loose chert. Should be easy to dig up and transplant.
If I get my way… it will be growing at my daughters place next spring and sporting a new kieffer top.
Now is a good time to scout and id callery for grafting… or in my case transplanting and then grafting.
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The interesting thing about betulaefolia Is that the Latin meaning is birch-leafed. Betula papirifera- paper birch:)
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There’s also the “birch polypore” Fomitopsis betulina. An edible fungus, which grows on birch, that is said to be usable like a stropping leather.
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Gonna have to look that up. Thanks for sharing. I have some along the pond with some huge specimens.
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Today im cleaning up some side branching from the rootstocks i top worked last year.
Hi Clark,
I thought I heard that Callery root pieces can be used to propagate callery. If so how thick should these cuttings be?
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It is sometimes true that roots can be used. I had several callery i dug up that sprouted from the roots. It does not always happen. Trees that sucker at the base are the best for free rootstocks but then you have a tree that suckers at the base.
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