I grafted to a callery pear seeding this year…got 5 varieties now on one tree.
(And on a tree I dug up, the graft failed).
2 Likes
Are callery the only pear rootstocks with thorns? How about OHxF97?
A Tyson pear we bought from Fedco in 2004 has on my label that the rootstock is OHxF97, but the sprouts coming up are quite thorny.
2 Likes
Thorns are just a juvenile trait, not limited to callery. I have a Harbin (P.ussuriensis) pear that was the rootstock underneath a Korean Giant that succumbed to fireblight…thornier than any callery seedling I’ve seen.
I have a number of pears on OHXF513. Some sucker, some don’t; some suckers are thorny, others thornless…no rhyme or reason that I can ascertain.
2 Likes
@ClothAnnie I have a feeling you have a few more blooms right now on that tree than you did last year.
Yes!! I thought I’d gotten a pic but can’t find it so maybe it got deleted. The flowers are almost all gone now so I’m very curious to see how the fruiting goes!!
2 Likes
Are you grafting any other wild callery?
1 Like
Why is it that you can not go into the woods and find a bartlett seedling, yet you can not look anywhere without seeing a callery.
When you have a tree that is undefeatable in the wild, you know it has to be great rootstock. Flowering time on euro grafts seems to be it’s only downfall. On the asians I have mostly callery with a few others like beutifolia and such. So far callery has far out done the others in growth and flower pretty much immediately.
Also, I have noticed that the grafted versions do not get anywhere near as large as they do naturally.
On-line vendors are also beginning to favor it. It’s basically the super rootstock that universities are always trying to create.
1 Like
I wonder how cold hardy they are. I live in Northern Illinois, and to the best of my knowledge I’ve never seen one, ever.
1 Like
Experts claim callery are hardy to zone 5. I’m watching them.adapt more and more every year. They will eventually cross with more cold hardy pears like the harbin on the fringe of zone 5 and sweep through that area once they adapt.
1 Like
I haven’t yet. Would like to but just not prioritizing it. Overwhelmed with too much right now. I have one other that I grafted the year after this one but it didn’t blossom this year.
1 Like
Just a couple of baby fruit pics. Not sure if I should thin? I think there had actually been a lot more but see fewer now- maybe the tree dropped some on its own?
4 Likes
Robert,
Hordes of robins, starlings, grackles, blackbirds, etc. are not consuming Bartlett pears and pooping the seeds out all over the countryside. But, if Bartlett fruits were pea- to marble-size, and hung on into fall/winter, we’d possibly be overrun with Bartlett-parentage seedlings… but no human would want to eat those pea-size Bartlett pears.
4 Likes
There is something very satisfying to me when i graft a tree and its producing fruit. I’m imagining it must be the same feeling you have right now congratulations! The crops increase more all the time.
2 Likes
Thanks so much for checking!! Perfect timing!
We harvested four today- some sort of wasp seems to be enjoying them! Will attach a pic of the happy wasp, one cut up, and three whole ones. We enjoyed the two we cut up- they’re quite hard but nice flavor although kids don’t like the sort of tough skin. I’m keeping two in the fridge in case that helps ripen them. Maybe give them a week or two? They seem to oxidize very quickly in case that helps identify the variety. I notice starchiness (?) on my knife after cutting, too… wonder if that indicates a lack of ripeness.
Thanks again for asking. I will try to post a pic of the whole tree soon
3 Likes
That red skin over yellow looks like an ayers pear.
I’m 99.999999999% sure that is what is but there are pears that can resemble it somewhat in appearance. I’m actually 100% sure what that pear is but I give myself some room for varities I’ve never seen because they are out there. Here is the ayers pear and as you can see it’s unmistakably your pear Ayers pear! . They are ripe when the seeds are black and at that time they are melting and juicy. Literally they Drip with juice. I noticed the seeds appear white which is a tip off your early. Ayers will hang on the tree until ripe and beyond there is no hurry to pick ayers. The insects are detecting the high amounts of sugar. They are still weeks from ripe. When you tilt them up and they break off easily in your hand they are ripe. In addition when you push with your thumb against the neck of the pear it should have a slight give to it. The first pears are never the best pears and frequently it takes a couple years to master picking them at the right time. I’m very glad your getting pears!
2 Likes
Last year I picked some pears early and let them stay on the counter. I checked the neck almost daily for a slight give. The method worked well for these. I only have a few Harrow Sweet on the tree this year and I will try this method on them.
2 Likes
Thanks so much! I knew that one of the scions that @Auburn had given me was Ayers, so, yay! I think a bit of my tree is then Moonglow (possibly Korean Giant though I doubt that’s one that survived the graft iirc) but the Ayers has taken off and been the only one to flower. It flowered a bit in 2020 but only 3ish fruit, none of which were good/had something funky going on, then a lot of flowers this year and maybe we’ll have 5ish more fruits that the insects (hornets?) haven’t gotten unless they start eating them while I let them hang on the tree. My youngest LOVES them even unripe lol. I will try to let some stay on so we can try them in a couple of weeks. I’m so thankful- God is so good in His generosity and Bill was so generous to get me some scions back in… I guess it was 2017?! Amazing. I’m really thankful! Will try to go get a pic of the tree.
2 Likes
Thankfully the hornets don’t seem to mind my presence but I sure am acquainted with stings so give them lots of space lol. It’s hard to begrudge them moisture or sugar- it’s soooo dry and hot here in VA right now. It’s interesting to me how much heartier the Ayers seems in comparison to the Moonglow. Uploading: 4109818C-A7C1-4044-866E-D79AD6269E39.jpeg… Uploading: F5EF5CDC-AFA3-42D3-AFF0-B449C16E0DDE.jpeg… Uploading: F3C9684C-06E0-4B43-8B79-AEAB61413326.jpeg…
1 Like
