I’ve looked for a Down side to Betulaefolia rootstocks and I’m just not finding one. What are your thoughts? Am I overlooking something? I just ordered 300 of them.
It can be too vigorous on some varieties. I had one tree that was a monster, I just could not keep it under control. Pruning to the ground finally did it 
Overall its a fine stock, especially for asian pears none of which had the overly vigorous issue.
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Thanks Scott that was what I hoped. I’m planning to bump up my Asian pear numbers. Seems like Asian pears are valuable and in demand.
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Clark,
How is the BETULAEFOLIA rootstock doing for you so far? I just ordered 10 or so to put some drippin honey, harrow sweet and a few others on. Just wondering your thoughts?
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BET are great rootstocks and I would highly recommend them.
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A couple of questions if you don’t mind… since you’re not too far from me. Can you tell me where I can purchase betulaefolia rootstocks? I’m having trouble finding them. And can you give me some
Euro pear recommendations based on your personal experience that go well on the bet? I’ve got plenty of Asians but no Euros. I’m looking only for easy, disease free… I’m totally willing to sacrifice flavor for these qualities. Thanks very much!
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Or should I go with a different rootstock for Euros? I want a standard or semi standard that can tolerate potentially wet soil.
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I highly recommend callery pear for euro rootstocks if you want a 20 foot tree. BET are more of an Asian rootstock because they get huge unless your talking about a euro that dwarfs BET with early production like harrow delight. Asian ppears produce early which runts our BET rootstocks. Harbin are big rootstocks also and are to susceptible to decline for euro pears. Copenhaven Pear — CopenHaven Farms or williamette FRUIT TREE SEEDLINGS | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings will have all the types of rootstocks I mentioned on the site. They only sell large quantity. In Missouri you have more water so ohxf rootstocks are ok in some situations but standing water would not be great for those. I prefer wild callery from a wet location or BET for wet feet. Bet dont do as well as callery in water. I would go dig some up and use those they will work best. See this thread Wild callery pear rootstocks . In a pinch the widely available ohxf333 rootstocks seem more tolerant than other dwarfs but not my favorite. Callery is your overall best bet.
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Willamette is currently sold out of all sizes of BET. Maybe they get in more later, but I don’t know.
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Thanks for the info. I think I may give the callery a shot.
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The Callery or Bradford Pear | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings callery are not 100% bulletproof but if they cannot tolerate the conditions it may be intolerable for any pear currently. Grow the rootstocks out a year or two before grafting them. They need extra time to establish in less than ideal conditions. Harrow delight will graft easy to those and is a summer pear. That will get you pears quickly. Harrow delight will runt out those callery and make them a little easier to pick. Good luck with them!
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Do any nurseries sell grafted trees on Callery? Thanks - Spud.
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Hey Spud, we got a couple of pears on Callery rootstock three years ago from Plant Me Green out of Florida. They were a Pineapple and Orient, the latter has done pretty well after 3 years in the ground, but the Pineapple is a 12ft+ monster now, easily the biggest bare root tree we’ve planted. It was about a 11/16" caliper thick, and about 4ft tall before we topped it a bit after planting. Might get lucky this year and get a few fruit off it, I hope.
Here’s a link to the types of pears they sell. According to their FAQ page, all their pears are on Callery.
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Hidden Springs Nursery sells their pears on callery rootstock as well.
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Thanks for the replies/suggestions on nurseries. I was able to find two European pear trees, Ayers and Warren at Peaceful Heritage Permaculture Nursery, one on Callery and one on Betulaefolia rootstock. Peaceful is the only place I have found European Pears on Bet. other than ArboreumCo (which is to expensive - $70.00 shipping). I have ordered from PlantMeGreen previously but they were selling potted plants this time which made them expensive.
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I have some overgrown Pbetulaefolia that are close spaced in a row and was thinking about cutting them to the ground and stooling them for rootstock. Is this possible with PB?
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I know this is old, but for just for reference all the pear trees at Tractor Supply are on callery. I haven’t verified this, but my suspicion is that most pear trees advertised as standard but with no rootstock specified are on callery.
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Yes your right i know many nurseries like burgess used callery for many pears for many years. Im not sure if all were callery.
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I am not sure if this is true with Tractor Supply but is true with other big box vendors. Home Depot will source fruit trees regionally from different vendors. So an Ayers pear may be on callery at a store in the northeast but on different rootstock in the southeast because it comes from a different vendor. That being said I have bought multiple peach trees from TSC and all have been the variety marked with one exception - a Hale Haven turned out to be a really late unknow peach variety. This is not true of other big box vendors, 90% of the trees are mislabeled. In prior years you could order fruit trees online from TSC and have them delivered to your local TSC store with no shipping charge.
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They’re thorny as hell, sucker like mad and get GIGANTIC. Also, their roots can be hard to dig.
Their pros: hardy, compatible, seed is cheap to ship anywhere.
Them thorns’ll cost you in blood and tires though.
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