Whats the lifespan of ohxf pear rootstocks? Ive read 60 years. This article discusses lifespan, ripening etc. http://www.harvesttotable.com/2010/12/how_to_choose_a_pear_tree_for/. I would love to here from the people who know about the longjevity of rootstocks. Our heavy clay loam is dwarfing so I planted my ohxf333 closer than recommended. I know calleryana are tolerant of wet ground bur are 333? I know a lot about pear rootstocks but have a lot more to learn.
The ripening times in the article listed above are very accurate in Kansas
" ■ Northern Hemisphere harvest times
• July harvest: Clapp’s Favorite, Bartlett, Max Red, Shinseiki.
• August harvest: Shenseiki, Ya Li, Moonglow, Seigyoku, Chojuro, Nijisseiki, Fan Stil, Pineapple, Kikusui, Anjou, Seckel, Monterrey.
• September harvest: Anjou, Seckel, Monterrey, Sure Crop, Maxine, Kieffer, Bosc, Winter Nellis, Comice.
• October harvest: Kieffer, Bosc, Winter Nellis, Comice.
"
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Clark,
From my reading on the OHF stocks-- 333; 87; and 97 should all be tolerant of heavy clay.
I am utilizing 333 and 87 with 5x7 foot close-spacing (I may eventually need to prune the 87s a bit to keep them from getting too big).
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Two of my 87s have already spent one full year in the ground. They seem to like it there. I have heavy rocky clay. Cripes-- the Harrow Sweet produced a pear its first season after transplant.
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The 333 and 97 I put out are doing good. I have BET rootstocks, and callery primarily and they have done well here. A friend is going to get me some harbin this year as well. The same person got me some pre-grafted 87 trees that are doing extremely well.
My 333 was a dog last year, hoping my new 97 is better this year.
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I learned a few things about 333 this year which is they tolerate droughts and very wet soil. They tolerate heavy clay and appear to suffer no ill effect from our soils. Think 333 and 97 are keepers for Kansas. Only time will tell how long they last but lets hope at least 60 years. The nice thing about pears is they will out live most fruit trees. Peaches and plums in our location for the most part have a lifespan that is much shorter than pears. Apples can be longed lived but typically are not long lived here. There is an apple tree once in awhile I see that is 40-70 years old. The pear on this place when I bought it was well over 100 years old at the time. The old pear had very poor quality fruit likely from the day it was planted.
My 333 kicked the bucket this year but the 97 is thriving.
I planted Orient and Pineapple pears this spring. Both are on Callery rootstock. I’m afraid I’ve forgotten which one is which, but one of them has grown like gangbusters, leaves and branch sprigs everywhere. It is like a 11/16", while the other is a 9/16", and it has done pretty well, but not as vigorous as the other one.
I bought a big Moonglow pear from Lowe’s, about 6’ tall. It’s done OK, but it was partially gnawed on by deer, and the leaves were hit hard by some kind of insect, I think stink bugs. Don’t know what kind of rootstock, but the tag said it’s a semi-dwarf, so who knows.
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Sorry to hear you lost your 333 do you know what happened? Did it just sit in the ground and not grow?
I am a big fan of OHxF. I had not given any thought to lifespan but expect many of my trees to out live me. For a simi-dwarf pear, the 333 will clearly outlive something grafted in quince or Hawthorn. There compatability issues as with all pear rootstocks but, I have had success with 85% of cultivars I grafted on OHxF.
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The 333 was a multi graft Asian pear from Raintree nursery. It just failed to thrive from the beginning. The root mass had 3 large roots but very few of those small feeder roots. The leaves on the tree never fully opened. No lateral branching ever grew on the tree. Raintree replaced the tree but the new asian pear came on OHxF97 and it is growing fabulously. .
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333 is a poor match for Asain pears which are lower vigor. I have seen a few huge Asains pear tree I Assume are on harbin rootstock. 333 produces A managable size European pear tree that produces fruit in half the time.
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I only have six pear trees of which five are on Callery roots and one is on what was sold to me as a dwarf root. The Callery is so prolific here I just don’t see a need to use another type unless it is for what you mentioned, compatibility. If I have one tree that doesn’t work out I still have enough for my personal use. If I was planting on a larger scale as you are I would hate to find out several years down the road that I made a mistake. Good luck on your search for a compatible root-stock. Bill
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Maybe that is why the replacement tree they sent was on 97 instead of 333?
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@39thparallel,
You and I definitely agree on our beliefs about rootstocks eg. Asian pears on 87 or 97 would be great choices. Time will tell if we are right. Asian pears need high vigor rootstocks such as BET. Every rootstock has positives and negatives such as BET gets FB easier than ohxf rootstocks. Harbin gets pear decline when European pears are grafted to it but works good with asians. 333 is a great choice for European pears such as warren that are delayed producers. This year I tried Korean giant on callery and it’s done well but chojuro did poorly on callery again. Callery itself has a dozen different species and hybrids so grafting to wild callery is a bit of a gamble. Different people grafting to different callery will have different results. I’m not sure the results of interstem grafting ohxf to callery it might dwarf or might not. Some callery have a lifespan of 20 years and wild callery typically have a longer lifespan in our area. I’m definitely concerned with longevity of rootstocks.
BET gets large as well but they are likely harbin. Harbin is being used less now because of the size.
Bill,
Callery are a great choice for your situation. The wild callery are in my opinion some of the best pear rootstocks. I use them a lot and some I grafted a long time ago with no long term problems. They produce very well now.
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That makes a lot of sense now. Asian pears will runt out small rootstock. There might be situations where Asian pears don’t come in production quickly but I have not seen that.
I have always been curiuos about the different rootsock options for pear. Have any of you experienced reduced fruit size for 333? That has always been rumored. I had a few trees on this stock and sort of got mixed results in Austin. I have a feeling it may perform a little better in Dallas. A friend and true expert in the Houston area once trialed a ton of different rootstock options and found the best for his area was ohf 51. Sadly it doesn’t seem to exist in commerce anymore and apparently is near impossible to propagate.
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