Geneva GRIN scions

Just got the shipping notice for the apple scions I requested from GRIN. It always seems like apple scions ship a few weeks before pear.

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What did you get? Always interested to hear what people are trying.

Did you get an email from Dawn, asking if you had rootstocks?
My order is still “in review” for a month. I’ve never ordered from Geneva before, Corvalis was very responsive to my request.

I requested:

Linda Sweet crab
Shafer crab
Trailman crab
Trail crab
Prairie Gold crab
Pup’s Tego
Waubay crab
Ben Trio crab
MN 85-26-21 (a Kazak apple)

And from Corvallis I requested:
Beierschmitt pear
Tyson pear
Southworth pear (already have this one, but mine has been slow growing. Want another scion to try)
Hanson Siberian pear (to help cross pollinate Ure, Early Gold, and Golden Spice I have growing now)

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No, I wasn’t asked about rootstock. The research I’m doing has to do with grafting my requested cultivars to b118, ranetka, Dolgo, and wild crab rootstocks and then determining winter hardiness in central/west central MN. Maybe that covers any concerns on their end? I have also received scions from Geneva and Corvallis for a number of years (missed scions from Corvallis in '16 due to disease as I recall), so maybe they assume I know what I’m doing (which may or may not be accurate :thinking: )

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What are you trying to determine, if you don’t mind my asking? The hardiness of the rootstocks, or the scions? Or seeing if there’s some kind of interplay between both that lends more hardiness than you would otherwise expect? Or…?

And are you focusing on the crabs because that is all that will grow where you are?

I have a number of apple cultivars on the same rootstocks for the same research. This year I’m just focusing on crabs. This will likely be the last year I request scions because I’m about out of room (unless I turn some more areas into orchards anyway). The “research” I’m doing is far from formal. I just want to know what will survive here and whether rootstocks influence that survival (or not).

Crabs are generally more reliable in long term hardiness here, but there are plenty of regular apples around too. I’ve got several wild apples (fruit larger than 2") here that are at least 15 years old, so they’ve seen some pretty wicked winters.

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I am noticing that they are offering pear rootsock as cuttings not as plants, anyone ever got such cuttings?

I am confused, I do a search for pear root stock and I click on one that the search results says plant materiel as being plant. When I click the clink for that root stock it says that the order is for 2 scion. Does that make any sense. Others the results makes it seem like you have a choice and when you click the link it just says two scion.

Just a thought: there is an NCGR-Corvallis page listing Staff Members, with their e-mail addresses. Ultra-helpful Joseph Postman is our Pyrus contact and could almost surely answer your question, and hopefully get fixed whatever is broken (if it is).

Are you wanting to get rooted pear rootstocks from them? If so, that’s not how it works.

I’d prefer rooted yet I can technically root the scion myself, it’s just that it takes longer to get fruit that way, and I’d like a clarification to the confusion.

I emailed Joseph Friday, still wait for a responce, I am getting anxious since in a few weeks they’d be shipping out and I am afraid that they may run out.

They do not ship anything that is rooted. You will be getting cuttings or budwood only, depending on when you place your order. I am not sure on the cutoff date for Corvalis for scions, I know the cutoff date for apple scions was the 10th of this month.

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When I asked Joseph Postman about receiving hazelnut rooted plants, this was years ago he said it was possible yet I did not understand how to go about that. I failed to ask him for more details and I just requested hazelnut scions. Yet I am guessing that it would have to be a special order and that there would be a charge for it.

There is a little over 8 days left to order them, I guess I will order scion and when he gets back to me if anything needs to be changed if he responds in time then he might be able to fix it if they do not run out first.

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What method would you use to root the pear scion?

I was thinking the method that the lower bark is removed and dipped in to rooting hormone powder. That sounds like the best method and I have never tried it before.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/pear/pear-trees-from-cuttings.htm

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I tried rooting some pear scion already, I thought that they died when they lost their leaves and they never came back, yet late last year I noticed that they had roots. Now it almost seems like they are ready to send out buds even though the pots froze. Almost like the cold made the buds show up. I will see in the spring.

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This guy claims to have sold a tree a month after he did the propagation, yet he did not say much detail

I have never tried clonex, I have tried plane old rooting hormone powder. I have a theory that if you temporarily graft a scion onto a “nurse” pear tree and allow a thick callous to form you could then clip it off and root it. I tried last spring with a couple of grafts but none rooted , I still think it might work well

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