As much as we all love bartlett, comice, and clapps favorite we need to consider fireblight is becoming a more devastating disease than it has been in past years. Callery is still the most resistant rootstock. My trials show BET , bartlett seedlings, and ohxf rootstocks will not stop fireblight. As far as the fruiting pears go.new varities may be the answer because of their rating of 7 in resistance to fb out of 10. These new like "Bell pear comes from the same program that produced Potomac, Blake’s Pride, Shenandoah, and Gem. "
" Bell pear is a recent addition from the USDA research station in Kearneysville, WVA. It is a vigorous, productive tree with great fireblight resistance. Richard Bell, the developer of Bell pear makes the following statement regarding fireblight resistance in pear cultivars: "While it’s not easy to knock Bartlett out of its position, one thing is clear: Varieties from the USDA program all rate 7 or better on the fireblight resistance scale, where 10 is perfect and 3 is Bartlett. Fireblight can be devastating in some years,” Bell said. “With the USDA varieties, you may get a few strikes but not the large loss of bearing surface and tree death.”
Ripening about a week before Barlett, this pear is slightly smaller. It has a yellow skin that is splashed with a pretty, red blush. In taste trials it rates very highly for sweetness, juiciness, and flavor intensity. This pear is set to be a popular addition for home growers and commercial production. It will store well for up to five months.
Bell pear comes from the same program that produced Potomac, Blake’s Pride, Shenandoah, and Gem. "
In a fit of pique, a gremlin invaded Clark’s computer and disabled the P, E, A, and R keys. He will no longer be able to type Pear! While ordinary people might be fine, Clark is expected to expand from internal pressure until he bursts.
More seriously, did you order a Bell? Also, Bell is rated 9.5 while Potomac is 7.
And yet in the northeast, Bartlett has been one of my easiest pears and not especially prone to FB- Seckel and Bosc have been far more vulnerable.
What I don’t like about the releases like Blake’s Pride that I’ve tried is the amount of time before they bear fruit. There also seems to be a correlation between precocity and reliability here. Bartlett and Harrow Sweet both bear young and consistently.
Generally, I’d say that in the northeast, pear psyla has been a much bigger issue than FB in the orchards I manage that have pear trees. Also annual cropping. Most varieties, most sites, pears are biennial at best, no matter how I handle them. For annual cropping only Har series and Bartlett have done the job at my own, slightly sun challenged site. That and Asian pears. Korean Giants even bear very sweet pears annually on the shadier parts of my property (nursery trees). .
I have 2 new pear trees… Keffier on Callery, Improved Kieffer on Callery.
Do you think this Bell will pollinate with my Keiffer ?
I need all the FB resistence I can get.
I was planning to eventually graft in some orient, ayers, harrow crisp or sweet. If this Bell will work perhaps I should give it priority as far as adds go.
This is something I’m wondering if i am thinking correctly about. Texas A and M doesn’t recommend very many pears for my area because of fireblight and the heat, but I’m growing Shenandoah and so far it is taking the summers pretty well. Maybe Texas AandM doesn’t know what they are talking about, or maybe when they say"heat" they really just mean that we have fewer chill hours
I dont know yet but Kansas will likely be able to tell us pretty soon how much heat and fireblight it can handle. Its not as hot here as Texas but it can be close. Your 10 to 15 degrees warmer i think. Parts of Kansas can hit 111 degrees F Record Breaking August 2023 Heat! We got to around 108 degrees at my location.