Holy cow am I excited! I hope it actually sets fruit.
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Kelby,
Can’t wait to see them! Looks like you have a really good chance! For those that don’t realize what a big deal it is to keep a shipova alive and get it to flower may want to read up on it http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/shipova-bollwiller-pear/. Spraying with copper, antibiotic in bloom are all likely necessary. The hardest pear I grow is easier.
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I honestly thought it would be another decade til it fruited. I guess the aronia rootstock does speed things up. I think I planted it 4 years ago?
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That was at least half the time of the best expected results which are 7 years. I think your on to something using aronia to grow those. Ohxf333 might make them fruit fast, I’m doing an experiment with magness on 333. Maybe I should try warren on aronia.
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To be clear, I bought it on Aronia from OGW (I think). Checked the tag, planted in 2014.
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Kelby,
Can you cross it with a Korean Giant and see what the seedling fruits like?
Tony
I’ll have to see if any of my KG blooms are left, maybe?
Did your Shipova set fruit that year or since? I grafted Shipova to aronia at my place. It bloomed this spring but didn’t set any fruit. I’ve yet to taste one.
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No. I got sick of it and ripped it out with 1 hand. Replaced with a Freedom apple that the deer keep eating.
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In defense of Shipova, I’ve found it a perfect fit for the super-wet, fungal-prone climate of the PNW. No scab, ripens on tree, skin is tender, with a soft butterscotch flavor. Along the way, I had a setback that exemplifies the tree’s tolerance of wet growing conditions. At year 5, with standing water on the ground for about a week, the 15’ tree started leaning. One branch reached the ground, re-rooted, and sent up a new leader. The tree looked ridiculous with 2 leaders about 90 degrees apart! But by year 9 the tree started coming into production and each year thereafter the two leaders have been loaded with fruit.
In hopes of jump-starting another tree, I bark grafted top onto an established European pear (lost variety tag) that was totally scab prone. The graft took but growth was minimal ( 6") so will have to see this spring whether this union is compatible.
Even pears that are supposedly scab-tolerant e.g. Orcas, Rescue, Highland develop scab here, so I’m happy to have a care-free pear.
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I got to see a mature(And bearing!) Shipova at a friend’s house here in Maine. Unfortunately, I was a bit late to properly evaluate the fruit as they had dropped a week or two earlier-this was in early October I think. Judging by the remnants, it was productive and my friend likes the fruit. Might have to get it going at my place!