Rootstock for Ure, Golden Spice and Early Gold pear

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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