Grafting williams bon chretien pear (bartlett in the US)

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hello everyone,

Just looking for a quick bit of advice regarding grafting williams pears. I intend on using quince A rootstocks. However, i remembee reading thag williams wouldn’t be compatible itself and that i’d need to graft another variety onto the root and then graft the williams onto that other variety…

Could anyone give me any advice on what varieties are suitable for the initial graft to the root? I have searched online but as with a lot of this stuff, there isn’t a lot of information out there.

I’d appreciate any help snd thank you,

Jamie

#2

I think that Williams will not have issues being grafted straight on quince however if you have doubts, you can use Gute Luise/Louise Bonne d’Avranches as interstem. At least my friend is using this one for quince incompatible varieties

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#3

Beurre Hardy is also commonly used as an interstem, I believe.
I I have also read that Hardy makes beautiful straight stems, so it was used for standard trees that were crown grafted, so the stems didn’t grow crooked.

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#4

Edit: There is a thread with some links for this question:

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#5

Thank you both, i appreciate the help. I have quite a few beurre hardy so that is handy! I think ill try grafting it straight to quince a and then ill try a few with beurre hardy anyway since i have it to hand.

Ill check the link out too.

Thanks

Jamie

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#6

According to Hedrick’s “The Pears of New York,” Bartlett trees “thrive on both standard and quince stocks.”

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#7

Thanks stan, i think what i will do is try it both ways! That way ill have a good idea from first hand experience.

Jamie

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#8

Today Bartlett is considered incompatible with quince. I guess the 100 years of experience since Pears of New York give different data.

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#9

I suspect that it’s not the research that have changed over the last 100 years, but rather the Bartlett itself. This study in Oregon found that Bartlett’s (in)compatibility with quince strongly depends on which clone of Bartlett is used (apparently, not all Bartlett/Williams clones are the same). Perhaps, Bartlett clones used in Hedrick’s times were more compatible with quince than those we have nowadays. We all know that clones of Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples most common today are not the same as the original ones. Quite possibly, the same is true for Bartlett.

#10

I had Bartlett grafted on quince but it wasn’t growing at all and only had a few pears every year. Bartlett planted next to it (with Beure Hardy interstem) is growing and producing ok.
Compatibility should be considered in terms of growth and production not just if the graft take.
I recommend using interstem (Beurre Hardy and Comice are most commonly used) with Bartlett, just to be on the safe side.
At Brogdale Farm - National fruit collection (Brogdale - Home of the National Fruit Collection) they use Comice interstem for ALL their pear trees.

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#11

This link listed above i hope will be very useful to you What pears are quince compatible? . I would make an old home pear interstem due to its compatability with everything. Williams aka Bartlett is indeed incompatible. Make the interstem longer than normal.

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