Rootstock for Ure, Golden Spice and Early Gold pear

First post here, I’ve lurked for awhile now. I’m wondering if the mentioned pear varieties can be grafted to OHxF rootstocks or if ussuriensis is required?

Thanks

I’m far from an expert on cold hardy pears but for starters we know the pears you mentioned are hybrids of Pyrus ussuriensis x Pyrus communis. Some nurseries specialize in cold hardy pears such as http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/pears.html. SLN nursery uses two rootstocks which they state “The rootstocks we use for our pear varieties are Pyrus communis (for European-type pears) and Pyrus ussuriensis (for ussuriensis crosses)” . Your zone is very cold at times in the winter so I suspect it would be wise to stick with harbin pears as rootstock on the hybrids your planning to plant due to their cold tolerance and because the scions are a hybrid. Pear decline can be an issue with the harbin pear aka Pyrus ussuriensis. You will already be growing a variety that’s a cross of Pyrus ussuriensis. You can get those pear trees here http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/pears.html. You likely already know “OHxF 333 (Old Home and Farmingdale) Produces a tree 75% of standard size. Resistant to fire blight and pear decline. Does not sucker and develops hardy well anchored tree. Tolerates a broad range of soils. Bears fruit in 3-4 years and grows to 12-16 feet.” - per http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6 . Old home is half of that cross and farmindale the other half http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/cool/pyr.oldhome.html . There are several types of OHxF crosses as shown here http://copenhavenfarms.com/cherry-plum-and-pear-rootstock which are reasonably priced rootstocks http://copenhavenfarms.com/cherry-plum-and-pear-rootstock-price-list. Rootstock heights etc can be seen on the pear link on this page http://treefruit.wsu.edu/varieties-breeding/rootstocks/. You also need to know cold hardiness which I could not find a definite answer to how cold an ohxf rootstock can get before it dies http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/documents/treefruit/pnw341e.pdf. I would stick with the tried and true methods in your area for now. I will say most pears are compatible with rootstocks or compatible with an interstem that’s compatible with a rootstock so other options may be available. Hope that helps!

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My Gold Spice is on an OHxF cross and has been very healthy here. It was reasonably precocious and the size has been readily maintained with regular pruning. I had Ure on the tree at one time but took it off because I suspected fireblight on it, but it grew well. I don’t know Early Girl.

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Thanks for the replies. Not many pears are grown in this area, so relying on others’ experiences isn’t an option. OHxF 97 has proven to be winter hardy here over the last few years, so I’d prefer to continue using it for my pear “experiments”. The focus of my fruit tree plantings is mainly for deer and other critters, with some fruit for us humans as a side benefit. I want as large of trees at maturity as possible, so OHxF 97 fits that requirement as well.

My main concern with the OHxF rootstocks and the ussuriensis/communis crosses is long term graft union compatibility.

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Several people who posted on the cold hardy pear topic should be able to help out with how their pears are doing. This is that older topic Pear for 3b -4a . This was a post I started about the krazula pear about a year ago Krazulya Pear. Apparently those Russian pears are slowly making their way to the United States via Alaska. This is another topic you might find interesting Russian pears for zone 2 - some info I found.

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Thank you clark. I believe I read those threads as I was lurking, but will double check to be sure.

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Contacted Jeffries Nursery in Manitoba about their Early Gold pear (believe they may have been the folks who developed the variety). They use ussuriensis rootstock on all of their pears. I suppose that would be the best choice then.

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Harbin aka ussuriensis will be a very large standard pear tree so my advice is bend branches early on that harbin pear and try to get it fruiting asap. I would continue to try your rootstock experiments for other possible solutions. There are many cold hardy pears and will be even more when those Russian varieties are available to the public. I would advice you contact Bob Purvis to see if he can help get scion wood for you. If I recall correctly he did some work on fruit trees in Alaska / importing a long time ago and I suspect he still has those connections.
Bob Purvis
Purvis Nursery & Orchard
1568 Hill Road
Homedale, ID 83628
Purvisrc@msn.com

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I have a few ussuriensis crosses from St Lawrence nursery, I figure that they are on p.u.
They are in their fifth leaf this year and most have some flower bud opening. Makes me thinks that p.u. is more precocious than pyrus comunis. I am keen on ussuriensis as a rootstock for cold hardiness, the early bearing is a nice bonus if it is indeed the factor causing these to bloom(and hopefully fruit).

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Thanks! I’ve got some reading to do, and I had heard of those newer Russian varieties.

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