Precocity of bench grafted pears

You know how pears are usually slow to come into production?

All things being equal, such as rootstock, Is that a function of the size of the tree or the length of time the tree has been grafted?

For example, if it takes a typical mail order nursery tree of a certain variety on OH x F 333 five years to come into production, does that mean I can expect my new bench graft of the same combination to also come into production in five years? Or should I expect it to take another couple of years?

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If you bench graft and plant in the ground right away, you will get faster production than purchasing a tree. Each time you transplant you can lose a year.

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@kokopelli5A @ribs1

Pear production is based on variety and years. The old timers said when planting a tree, remember

The first year, they sleep
The second year, they creep
In the third year, they leap

There are other factors. i’m oversimplifying pear production. Here are a few factors

Are there horizontal branches developing that are more prone to fruiting?

Has the tree had ideal nutrients and water?

Remember, trimming off pear wood is dangerous since fruit buds form on older wood.

Varities like harrow sweet, harrow delight, duchess d’ angoulme, and most asian pears produce faster than many old european pears. There are european pears that literally may be planted for your heirs.

Every rootstock i like to plant and graft the following year or two.

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In my experience they are not slower (years to full crop) than the apples or pit fruits I grow.

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Well, I’m assuming that the bench graft grows out reasonably well, but not necessarily that it’s advisable that the grower let it fruit.

I’ve had one answer from ribs1: It’s the act of transplanting that influences precocity—for the worse. The bench graft therefore has a small advantage in this way.

@kokopelli5A

The first year, a tree goes into the ground. My goal is just to keep them alive. A benchgraft has damage to the top, and to the roots, it can’t get much worse. That is what i mean by the first year they sleep. The second year, we expect some recovery, and the tree grows a little. That is what we mean by creep. The third year tree is recovered, and it begins really growing. That is to say, it grows in leaps. I was corroborating @ribs1 statement, but let me add to it. If the roots are disturbed, it is very bad for trees. A tree in a pot can get better attention than one in the ground in some cases. Weeds and other things have an unfair advantage that first year. It is crucial a bench graft has special attention beyond a simple transplanted tree. A bench graft that is potted and then planted later in the dirt it was potted in does not necessarily stunt the growth. A tree should not be allowed to become rootbound in a pot . In a way, you could say a benchgraft is one year behind a potted tree. A potted tree needs only heal the roots ,not the top. Most of the time , the small difference matters very little because, as @ribs1 said ,the roots put on in the first year were damaged again with the tree that was dug up.

“You know how pears are usually slow to come into production?” Yes some Europepean pears are very slow

“All things being equal, such as rootstock, Is that a function of the size of the tree or the length of time the tree has been grafted?”
A rootstock can accelerate fruiting but your wait may be long. It appears to be hormones in tree that trigger when it should fruit. Certain rootstocks accelerate when those hormones are triggered. Partially incompatible rootstock like quince seem to cause fruiting earlier.

“For example, if it takes a typical mail order nursery tree of a certain variety on OH x F 333 five years to come into production, does that mean I can expect my new bench graft of the same combination to also come into production in five years? Or should I expect it to take another couple of years?”

Yes, it means that.

A pear can be much slower than any other fruit to produce. Not all pears fruit at the same time. A peach as an example fruits in 2 or 3 years. That is never the case with certain pears. Harrow sweet pear is the fastest fruiting pear in my experience so far.

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Your fastest route to fresh pears is to graft to a Bradford/callery tree.
Nothing else has come close.

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