333 stay really small for the most part in my soil because it’s clay lome. I would not think they will get over 12 foot max but I don’t know that for sure yet. BET are giant trees and will get at least 25-35 feet depending on soil compaction and type. You can runt out any tree by using scions that produce faster such s Asian pears do. I have some on BET that are 15 feet but they do sucker like crazy at the bottom and I cut those suckers off yearly during winter. Harrow sweet is another that keep whatever rootstock small. They produce in the first or second year.
3 Likes
I bench grafted some Asian pear varieties on bet(thanks @39thparallel ) this past spring, and they did beautifully, growing 4’ or so over the season…maybe in a few years I will give a fruiting report!
1 Like
I think those were harbin and not BET Jesse but I could be mistaken. They get big fast! @39thparallel is close by so I usually know some of what he has in inventory. BET if cut down will sucker and if allowed to get big will cross with callery and often do https://www.nps.gov/cue/epmt/products/Pyrus%20betulifolia%202012%20NCREPMT.pdf
You might be right, Clark- I got BET seed from same source, hence my confusion.
1 Like
No worries Jesse I know those harbin will get huge and faster than BET so I did not want people to wonder what was going on later. Great choices on both types of rootstocks!
1 Like
@JesseS I sent Betulifolia seeds and Harbin rootstock. I’m glad they did well for you. BET had a great germination rate. Just about every one of the thousands of trees I have started from seeds has become hopelessly overcome by weeds when planted or transferred into a bed. This year I’m going to start them in plugs and use plastic to control weeds. I still have some BET and Antonovka if anyone wants a few.
3 Likes
I got a very good germ rate on the bet seeds you sent, my learning moment was that I started cold strat in December in moist medium in a fridge, and they started popping in mid Feb-about 3 months too early! I potted them up in 4 gal pots, around 30-40 per and grew them under lights until they could go outside, left them in the pots through the year, and plan to line them out next spring. Hopefully they will size up for budding in the summer or grafting in 2019…next time I will either plant the seeds out in the fall, or wait until late winter to start stratification.
2 Likes
I am getting 87 and 333 pear rootstocks from Copenhaven. They have the best prices I have seen and aren’t sold out yet.
1 Like
They sell nice rootstocks!
1 Like
Some of you may not have ever seen BET grown out but its what I do with them before I graft them over. Make sure you know the things your planting. The grafts take better if you plant the rootstocks out and come back in a couple of years and graft them. These BET were completely ignored and left in deer country to fend for themselves. I will need to prune them up and shape them but they will work out great long term
7 Likes
Wow that’s nuts! I never knew they’d be so thorny. Those look like a very hardy rootstock in every sense.
2 Likes
That hardiness is why I get them the deer and other varmints typically learn to leave them alone. They are excellent Asian pear rootstocks.
What about European pears on Bet. .?
Compatability , ?
Longevity ,?
Productivity ,?
I know they are supposed to be good for Asians .
But what about euros on Bet.?
1 Like
Euros on BET are absolutely and perfectly fine. That’s what they use in Europe.
Dax
2 Likes
They typically make a very large tree but like Dax @Barkslip said they work great. Some European pears such as harrow sweet, harrow delight etc. can reduce the height of the tree. They are more suited for Asian pears because Asian pears reduce the height. I’m not sure any of us live long enough to access how a pear really does long term but you won’t have to worry about it again in your lifetime. Napoleans army had no idea these pears they planted and grafted would still be there Napoleon’s army planted pear trees fact or fiction?. In a good location a hundred years is not much to a pear. BET are hardy and those good roots = higher pear production and bigger fruits in some cases. The reason why people say dwarfs have smaller fruits is because the dwarf lacks the super long roots and aggressive growing behavior of BET that get the fruits all the water and nutrients they need to get large. The things that make bet desirable are also what gets it the axe. As people age they get tired of climbing ladders and shooting spray straight up trying to reach the top of the tree.
2 Likes
Today i checked on the babies from the order that were 6". Some were 15 feet now. Have largely ignord these trees since a beaver pruned them for me. A post yesterday made me think to go check them.
1 Like
I like to prune my trees and let the branches fall where they will. When I get a burn pile going, I’ll collect the bigger stuff and throw it on.
Smaller stuff gets mulched by the riding mower. Sometimes I worry about puncturing my tires from citrus, plum, and some other thorny stuff. But those look like guaranteed flats. Wow.
1 Like
The deer dont touch them. The rabbits go around them. Only a beaver took some down. In a remote orchard you dont have time to manage at the moment they are perfect.
1 Like