Have several small ubileen pears. My largest one is 3 feet after several years in very poor soil. It was a mistake putting these on ohxf333. Anyone else growing this variety?
I just grafted it over this year, but I still have a couple branches of it. The few people growing it were having problems ripening it.
2 Likes
Thatās strange- it is a very vigourous variety for me. Iāve got one on quince (with a different variety as interstem) and another on OHxF87 and both shot up quickly.
On the negative, Iām one of the people who has trouble figuring out when they are ripe. They are very early, but either under ripe (and not enough brix) or rotten.
Itās good that you reminded me about it- I pruned out a lot of it (but not all) on the quince, but Iāve been meaning to do the same on the other tree. But I need to consult my records first, as there are about 10 varieties on there and I need to make sure I know what is what.
1 Like
@clarkinks @BobVance Any problems with FB with Ubileen? Maple Valley Orchards describes them as āvery disease resistantā but data online varies (imagine that).
1 Like
Are they worth growing? My impression was Ubileen is for northern growers who have very few choices for cold hardy pears. Edit: I guess I had my pears mixed up. Not sure which pear I was thinking of. Looks like the knock on Ubileen is an extremely short harvest window and early so rot can be an issue. This article seems to recommend Parker (which would be Flemish Beauty) over Ubileen for commercial growers.
https://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/european-pear/
1 Like
Ubileen is a weird one. Itās a triploid, which is pretty rare for European dessert pears. Also, my tree is by far the least precocious variety out of the 40 (?) or so varieties I grow: 15 years in the ground without a flower, despite being vigorous from the beginning. I think itās on OHXF 333.
2 Likes
No, but I donāt think Iāve had any fireblight on any of my pears. That might sound like a great thing (and it isnāt bad), but if I could trade getting it for not getting black knot on plums I would. I get horrible black knot and rot, just not FB.
1 Like
" Pyrus communis āUbileenā
Start the season off right with Ubileen! A large, sweet, aromatic, pear from Bulgaria, with yellow skin and a pretty red blush when fully mature. The flavorful flesh is fine textured and buttery. It is harvested in early August and top rated among thousands of pears from around the world at the USDA national pear Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon.
Ubileen is both a very early bloomer (bloom category 1), and one of the first pears to ripen each season. Early testing appears to show good resistance to fireblight.
USDA Zone: 5-9
Grow Height: 15ā (Semi Dwarf)
Sun: Full Sun
Ripening Time: August
Pollination: Needs a Pollinizer"
1 Like
Sounds like you and I are having a similar experience with it. Some manure and compost might be in order to get it to flower i suppose. It seems very resistance to fireblight showing no strikes at all.
1 Like
Hopefuly its a winner! I have one on a dwf stock and thought they were iffy for fbā¦
1 Like
Hmmmmā¦ might need more rootstockā¦
My fruitstand will need early pears!
1 Like
Thatās interesting to hear about the fireblight resistance. I may graft it on to OHx87 or quince w/interstem and put it in a prime spot to see if I can get it to fruit. Iām sure fireblight will be here someday.
A retired local grower had a few Ubileen trees for the farmers market and he told me he liked the pear, but the picking window was frustratingly short. He also said the fruit doesnāt store well. Probably best for backyard growers.
1 Like
These ubileen have been in for years on ohxf333. I need to fertilize them since they are growing in clay. Iām trying to get them to grow straight but they are pretty sad looking pears. A year with some manure and wood chips and they will likely double in height. In all fairness this site would not grow any grass until 3 years ago. This is nearly the front of my orchard near the road. Lime dust blows off the roads making the soil as hard as a brick. Im going to shape them up soon and keep after it.
2 Likes
@clarkinks Where would you rank Ubileen with your previous list of most disease resistant pears? I am very close to needing this pear haha. My thing is, I am not going to spray for FB so I need something that I can count on and merely prune it out as I see it (I live in VA). What rootstock do you recommend for it? Here is what Iām growing now, can you tell me if Ubileen is better than any of these, or more easy/difficult to grow?: Warren, Clarkās little yellow, Ayers, Harrow Sweet, and Seckel. Thanks for any advice!
2 Likes
If Iām not mistaken people are rating it as pretty resistant to fb.
Iāve 1 tree, for 2yrs., no fruit yet.
Planning on grafting more in spring. Oops. Sorry Clark. Didnt see addressā¦
1 Like
I have had a Ubileen pear for 10 years with no fireblight, I would say we have moderate fireblight pressure at my location in South Dakota.
I agree with the above about it being a problematic pear, it is difficult to know when to pick it, and they are good for only a week even if you get that part right. I pick mine green on about August 15, then they ripen on the counter in a couple days. For reference, I pick my storage pears the last week of September here. In my experience, if you pick Ubileen when there is any yellow developing on the fruit, it is already rotten on the inside. The flavor is overall good, but there is no complexity to it, it has just your average pear flavor.
This might be an a reasonable choice to graft and have just one branch of, if you really want some summer pears. For myself, I have grafted mine over to storage pears such as Dāanjou, Gem and Shenandoah. The last 2 are newer selections, both available as scion wood from Cummins. Incidentally, the cost for scions at Cummins is double of everyone else, but the scion length is also twice as long. They are also pretty fat, which I find gives you more flexibility in grafting, and perhaps increases the success rate.
4 Likes