I’m just curios @Lucky_P @Auburn why do you use so much interstem? Why not 2-3 inches?
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So if I put an interstem of ohxf 87 on a seedling pear the tree then would grow to the size of a pear that was on ohxf 87 rootstock?
The interstems are dwarf types and think that the longer ones offer more dwarfing. Not sure if this is correct but I think as you approach 14-16" you get close to the full dwarf effect as if you had used only the dwarf root. Time will tell if I’m correct.
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Derby,
You might look at this discussion again Wild callery pear rootstocks - #10 by Derby42. The idea with these seedlings is they are disease resistant and prolific but produce pears the size of peas as your aware. The seedlings may not be compatible with every variety of pear but other rootstocks such as OHxF87 are much more compatible. Since OHxF87 and others are more compatible than the wild callery pear but still compatible typically with callery they make a nice bridge for callery with a variety such as Bartlett. So you have callery roots and stem , then a piece of OhxF87 grafted on callery , then Bartlett grafted on ohx87 as an example. You can use that same technique with many pears that are not compatible with each other. As an example to clarify interstems take winter banana apple. The winter banana apple is so compatible with other trees it can actually be grafted on pears with great success. The idea of using winter banana apple is not for pears though it is to graft two incompatible apples to each other. If you have the time to read the technical answer there is more available here http://www.hort.cornell.edu/expo/proceedings/2015/tree-fruit/Understanding%20graft%20incompatibility[1].pdf
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I understand now so you might use ohxf333. Typically 6 inches is ok for dwarfing most rootstock. That makes perfect sense to me now. You are doing something similar to what they do with quince http://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/system/files/ond080101.pdf
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This study demonstrates some pears effect on rootstock and scion. Note the Beurre Hardy though useful for compatability is not useful for dwarfing. This study is interesting American Pomological Society - Journal Volume 54 Number 4 A Multi-site Pear-interstem Trial in the Netherlands and Belgium
I have no idea whether OHxF513 will or can have any dwarfing effect whatsoever… it’s just what I had on hand… 513 is compatible with almost all European and Asian cultivars, and Asians on 513 seem not to experience ‘Asian pear decline’ several years out.
I did the interstem grafts… just to see if they’d work… and to see if they’d do much of anything… I don’t expect much dwarfing, as cultivars on 513 itself are generally about 75% of standard size.
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This year I’m doing an experiment on a very stubborn wild callery pear tree and will document the results. The tree has thus far rejected 4 attempts to graft it with pears. This year I will try clara frijs pear, douglas pear, and winter banana apple to the tree as they are all notoriously easy to graft in my experience. I have a couple of other stubborn callery trees and may attempt the experiment multiple times.
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I have had two failed attempts at grafting Winter Banana to Callery. This was a very small sample to put much faith in. Please let us know how this combination works for you. Moonglow, Ayers, and Orient appear to be compatable with Callery. Bill
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Bill what pears are you growing apple on ohxf ? As a side note I found out the same rabbits that hate my callery love ohxf rootstocks. I had to paint the trunks with pruning seal to get them off of them after the last snow. Kieffer, clara frijs, douglas,duchesse d’angouleme, clapps favorite to name a few I’ve tried are all compatible with callery.
All of my apples to pear are currently grafted onto one standard pear tree. The root is a Callery that was allowed to grow high enough to limb out. Different varieties of pear limbs were attached to the Callery limbs. Then I grafted a multitude of different test apples to the different pear limbs. If it were not for good labeling of the grafts I would not have a clue as to what is attached where. By the way my other five pear trees are on Callery root/dwarf unknown inter-stems. Bill
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I have Ayers , Maxine and Sugar Sweet on callery .
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Great information Jerry thank you . I have an ayers grafted successfully as well on callery. I will try Maxine this year if I can find a place to put it. Been having problems finding rootstocks. The ayers scions mostly failed though 30% did make it and have grown on the tree 2 years. Clara frijs reached 12 feet in that time and I lopped off the top when spreading branches and pruning. Clapps favorite grew at a slower rate and reached 8 feet in 2 years on a side branch. Ayers reached 10 inches on a side branch in 2 years. Growth observations may be telling us something long term about callery as a rootstock. Douglas on another callery had similar growth and higher than that of Clara frijs.
I wanted to follow up on this old thread and give an update. Clara frijs has not fruited yet but all 3 Douglas pears I grafted over are blooming. If properly grafted and grown certain pears produce fruit fairly quick. Duchess and Douglas are some of the fastest pears to come into production.
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If I remember correctly Douglas is reported to be quite precocious is that right? Let us know how that one tastes if some come through. I have heard various second hand things about how it tastes but I don’t remember hearing from anyone who has actually grown it before.
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The Douglas pears I ate years ago were good but the skin was tough. Years ago I bought them from Wal-Mart and The skins were bright yellow and the flesh was good… I’m not sure they were what they were labeled. Once I grow my own I will know a lot more about them. The trees are very susceptible to rust but seem highly resistant to fireblight. Rust is the only problem I’ve seen so far.
Yes that is correct at least in my area. The Douglas pear since it was created a short distance from me in Douglas county Kansas may do better here than in other places.
I’ll will follow this for sure. I’m always interested in better pears for the south! I’m afraid that we aren’t going to have much luck here in Dallas again. We just haven’t had any chill at all the last few years and it’s really taking it’s toll. I only have a few varieties that are blooming and so far they are blooming pretty sparingly.
Drew
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Douglas pears are covered in fruit buds this year! I was very wrong with my plans of using Clara frijs to top work with because it does not produce pears quickly at all. Like claps favorite and others Clara frijs is very slow to produce fruit!
Perhaps You can graft Clara frijs to the Pyro-233 We would all like to know if its as precocious as the claim.
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