The defunct Bear Creek Nursery (Onalaska, WA?) put all their Asian pears on Harbin(P. ussuriensis) rootstock.
I still have Chojuro and Niitaka on Harbin, from my original plantings in 1996, and a Harbin rootstock remaining after fireblight killed off Korean Giant.
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They tested callery extensively and found that some lines were very fireblight tolerant and some were not. Read the original docs and it is clear that some callery trees were exceptionally tolerant. What is not made clear is that Bradford - which was widely planted as an ornamental - was only somewhat tolerant.
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Lots of people (and apparently most of temperate Europe) puts pear on quince and are successful with it. I think @scottfsmith has some pears on quince and said they did well? It’s not like it’s a mystery rootstock or even a newish one (like OHxF 87). So if you have some quince and use it I don’t think it’s “gross”
I did look into it but it wasn’t going to do well at my house. Here are my findings:
It is supposed to produce smaller trees (I have read reports of various varieties of pear/quince and sizes from being able to keep a pear at 5ft -15ft) produce trees that fruit early with good, full-sized fruit, and they do well in heavy and wet soil.
The drawbacks to quince are:
- it isn’t as cold hardy
- it does poorly in alkaline soil
- it is susceptible to fireblight
- it isn’t compatible with every pear - you can get many more pears to work with interstems though.
- it doesn’t tolerate drought well
I’ve read mixed reports on the longevity of pears on quince so I don’t know what to think of that part - it seems very dependent on the particulars.
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To add to this - Clearly, a lot of the ornamental cultivars and some volunteers are not FB resistant. However, some hybridization or genetic changes must have occurred. I see so many roadside callery-looking trees that look completely fine while nearby pear trees are all dead of fireblight.
I know it could just be that the trees I see are getting lucky - but from your experience (and Clark’s) I’m willing to try them out as rootstock.
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so if i wanted to get some container asian pears going, along with some medlars, should i just go with quince? in containers i can control the soil but i wont be able to control the weather here in iowa z5b/a so maybe not a good choice 
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Quince wont work at my location in Kansas. The root system are not good enough. In addition they get fireblight. Animals would wipe them out if they somehow survived everything else.
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I’d only try Quince in pots here. Sandy Loam, high heat and lots of rain needs big roots.
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anything else that fits the bill and compatible with medlar?
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hawthorn
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I planted a pear on quince in 2019 and its still the same size. There were two or three in an order of persimmon rootstock I got a year later as well. Those were planted and are still alive but theyre barely out of the 5’ tubes theyre in. I havent grafted those.
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If the goal is dwarf down pears i have dwarf pears. Seckle is a natural dwarf and i have several you can use as dwarfs. Frequently the scion is the problem and not the rootstock.
not sure if youre asking me but since mine are going to be in containers, as a tree i want them as small as possible. i also dont want to wait around forever for production. ive always felt its better to get the most vigorous/fastest producing stock and just keep it small via pruning. unless theres a unicorn of fast to produce and dwarfing.
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These two go together almost always
But it’s worth remembering your container will naturally dwarf any rootstock, semi-dwarf is typically fine for these use cases
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i didnt realize that a stock that “stunts” the size would also increase decrease the time to or amount of production. crazy. does that describe hawthorn? or should i drop the idea of finding a compatible stock with medlar?
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It decreases it
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sorry, corrected. do you know about the medlar part?
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Are you asking if hawthorn is dwarfing and leads to faster fruit production the answer is yes
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That is correct the incompatibility of a rootstock causes faster fruiting. The more incompatible the better it does. Another trick is tie a wire on a branch that forces faster fruiting by girdling. If the wire is thin it wont matter. There are lots of ways to accomplish your goals
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Based on this thread and others, it seems like OHxF 87 is your best bet. It’s cold hardy, Asian pears will grow on it, and it’s semi dwarfing. Even though OHxF 333 is supposed to be smaller, I keep hearing it’s not very different from 87 and OHxF 87 is supposed to be more precocious and just seems to have better reviews. For pears though - dwarfing is still pretty big (though Asian pear trees are smaller). I have no idea about growing trees in pots, so for that I will let others discuss.
If you can put these pots inside or have a heated greenhouse and your water is non- calcareous then quince seems good.
No idea about medlar except people do put it on OHxF and also on quince and hawthorn. Don’t know which one would be the most dwarfing.
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Is hawthorn compatible with european pears? I have two my wife wants me to take out. They grow like crazy with zero FB issues. if compatible, that might be my ticket to ride.
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