this slide is from 2013 I think and is not complete and there are more
Magness is pollen sterile
Kieffer, Beurre Hardy, Bell (new pear), Ambrosia, Ayers, Mericourt, Green Jade (from Purdue) also have FB resistance and can pollinate
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rubus_chief, thanks for the reply! I was curious about pollination because my Harvest Queen blooms every year but fails to produce any fruit. I have Ambrosia as a pollinator and I started to question if Ambrosia can really pollinate Harvest Queen.
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Both are early pears (both ripen before Bartlett) so they should be able to pollinate each other and they are not related (Ambrosia is derived from Honeysweet - which is primarily Seckel and Harvest Queen from Bartlett)
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So I have a Shinseiki tree with some other Asian pears just grafted. I also have a 3 on 1 pear, very young.
As Iāve posted here, I am going through choices for non-pure Asian pears.
Low chill, fire blight resistant. From this forum and online Iāve gotten a decent list, number wise.
I have 4 OHxF 87 rootstocks I grew out this summer ready for grafting. Preferably I will look into scionsā¦hopefully at least 4 ultimate choices.
I ordered and will receive a Hood also on OHxF 87 next spring.
Here is my thinking list:
Iāll try to look at each of these from previous posts to move them up, down, or off the list.
Monterrey
Warren
Baldwin
Moonglow
Pineapple
Tennesui
Golden Boy
Fan-StilĀ®
Flordahome
Southern Bartlett
Kieffer
Le Conte
Orient
Spalding
Flora?
Abbe Fetel
Magness
Seckel
Comice
Harrow Delight
Ayers
Honeysweet
Gem
Clarkās small yellow
Farmingdale
warren
potomac
Ayers
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Consider Warren, potomac, ayers in my opinion more than the others from that list for fresh eating.
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Thanks.
Iāll probably go with something like that and maybe a few for experiment. Itās going to be several years anyway to find out how the tree and fruit goes.
I can get Warren, Ayers, and Potomac scions from Fruitwood Nursery
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I have all three and would send them to you for cost of postage. If interested, message me in January. Or we could swap for a scion of Hood which I want to graft.
My Ayers is a beast with over 8 feet of new growth this year.
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That would be great @Fusion_power.
Letās touch base again in late. January. I canāt control when I get the Hood inā¦ Even though Iād like to have it delivered no later than mod March for me.
Early spring here.
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I just cut Harrow Sweet out of a frankentree- due to fireblight. My only pear to get blight here. I now see why itās not listed as strongly resistant. Too bad as itās precocious, fruits after my main pears, and can ripen on the tree.
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Iām still looking at building a 3 - variety European pear espalier with Ayers, Potomac, and Warren
If you compared the growth of those three varieties for you, would you rank the other two in terms of vigor? You already mentioned the Ayers was quite vigorous.
Iām told the lowest cordon needs to be the most vigorous otherwise the lower grafts wonāt grow well if itās placed higher.
Thanks
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Any thoughts on Blakeās Pride or Honeysweet?
Also, does rootstock (specifically Quince Provence) influence fireblight resistance?
I had ordered a Galarina apple tree from Cummins earlier this year, and I am thinking of adding a pear tree to my order. Iād like to choose one that has good fireblight resistance. Cummins sells Blakeās Pride and Honeysweet, both on Quince Provence rootstock. Should I get one? Blakeās Pride and Honeysweet are both listed on some of the charts above as being very fireblight resistant, but none of the forum members have mentioned growing them in this thread. And I wasnāt sure if the Quince rootstock would have any affect on fire blight resistance?
Cummins also sells Magness on Quince Provence. My understanding is that Magness is highly similar to Warren, which @clarkinks highly recommends, but that it takes forever to bear, so I was hesitant to get the Magness.
Should I get one of these pear trees from Cummins? Or get something else from elsewhere?
FYI: I do have some pollinizers available. In spring 2022, I grafted harrow sweet and harrow delight to a mature callery at my parentsā house in NJ, which both seem to be growing well (but theyāre still young, so who knows how theyāll do over time). So I can always grab some scions from those as a pollinizers if I need to. In 2022, I also grafted Shipova, Smokvarka, and Harvest Queen to an aronia in my back yard. Again, itās early days on those, so I donāt know their long-term prospects yet, but theyāre here in my back yard already to pollinate whatever pear tree I choose.
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Shibumi, Ayers gave 8 feet of new growth this year, Potomac pushes about 5 feet, and Warren about 4 feet. I have Potomac and Warren on older pear rootstocks but even so they are slower growing by comparison with Ayers.
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Thanks for letting me know the other varieties Iām looking to espalierā¦ You went above and beyond!
With nothing else to go by and knowing of course I live in a different climate and every tree is an individualā¦ Mileage may vary, etc etc.
With the length of the growing season here I think I may be able to actually get the second variety grafted my late summer, assuming my scion stays viable.
So Ayers, Potomac, then Warren. Weāll see how that works.
Iām years from fruit so Iāll enjoy learning on the growth rates, pruning, and form.
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Potomac out yields Moonglow for me. Moonglow is more susceptible to rots at harvest time. No fire blight on either in the 15 years of growing them. Potomac makes great dried fruit.
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I like the idea of different utility pears, otherwise Iām giving away almost all my (future) yield as thereās only so many pears I can eat or cook in a month or three!
Fresh eating, cooking, canningā¦
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I have these three varieties growing in North Georgia. For me, Warren is the most vigorous. I have two of them on their third leaf; they each pushed 8ā+ of growth on multiple branches this season.
I just planted Ayers and Potomac earlier this year. For me, Ayers (on calleryana) was far more vigorous than Potomac (on OHxF-87). That could be due to standard vs. semi-dwarf rootstock, but I have Asian pears on OHxF-87 that were also significantly more vigorous than Potomac. My little Potomac put on barely a foot of growth in a full season (of course, this could be an anomaly).
One potential problem to be aware of with using just these three varieties is pollination ā your Potomac might be doing the heavy lifting here.
It is sometimes argued that Warren is pollen sterile (like its sister Magness). Empirical evidence in the form of reports from this forum seem to contradict this assertion, but it may be true that Warrenās blossoms are significantly less attractive to bees than the flowers of most pears. Similarly, it has been asserted that Ayers may produce sterile male pollen (see here). Again, this is contradicted by other reports, some even indicating that Ayers is at least partially self-fruitful.
I am not asserting that Ayers and Warren wonāt pollinate each other ā I have no idea ā but you might not be enthusiastic about being the test case for that hypothesis if you are going to do all the work to espalier a tree and wait the years it will take for Warren to come into bearing age.
As for me, I decided to plant a Maxine near my Ayers and Warren to beef up the roster and increase my odds of successful cross-pollination. Another good choice for pollinating Warren would be Karlās Favorite (aka Ewart) ā our resident pear tycoon @clarkinks uses it for pollinating Warren.
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Those cracks usually indicate that you had some wet weather at some point and your pears put on lots of growth at once. Like cracking pears it means the weather was variable.
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I still have months to decide. Likely I can only start one and perhaps mid summer graft the second if the scion stays viable in the fridge and the growth of the first graft warrants it.
Karlās Favorite Iām not able to find any zone/chill info or FB resistance.
Maxine seems to be listed only to Zone 8.
I know there are quite a few FB resistant low chill choices, but Iām trying to get the quality fruit, staggered harvest, varied usage combination (fresh eating, canning/cooking, long storage being a wish list between them).
Also Iād like not to get 2 or 3 fruit too similar. Then thereās pollination.
I know Iām trying to order more food from the menu than I can eat, so to speak.
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