Whoops! I struggle with technology. Thanks!
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What I need to see is the bottom of those leaves Pear Rust . That could even be pear blister mites I’m seeing there. The good news is rust is not fatal to a tree. Finding the right treatment if any can be a little tricky sometimes.
If this is your first time grafting make sure and rub off the new growth on the trunk. While the tree is becoming established you will need to do this periodically unless you graft lower. Didnt graft lower because rabbits at my place dont like the taste of callery. Working with wild callery rootstocks can be rewarding but there are things to learn. @ClothAnnie tree is producing fruit now so she doesn’t have to do this as much now if at all. The scions become the dominant tree over time. The first couple of years we have to make sure we force all the energy into the grafts. See the growth on the base of the trunk in the first photo then notice I rubbed off that callery growth on the other pictures.
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Think you will get a good crop but it’s early to say that. Think time is in on your side ayers will ripen in August. I see some rust there and pear blister mites. Pear fruits are resilient so it’s not unusual to have pc scar mine up but then the pears still make a full crop. One way or the other let’s see what happens at this point.
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Thanks, Clark. I had to look up “pc.” I have come across the term plum curculio, but thought they were only a pest to stone fruits. I guess not! Ok, I will be on the lookout for harvesting come August!
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They put little half moon cuts in pears but typically pear fruit grows so fast it crushes the young pc before it ever starts.
@clarkinks and others…
Found this one in the woods at the edge of my back yard. It was mostly covered up in honeysuckle vine. I cut all of that out to geta good look at it.
The base of the tree is 3/4 inch thick… it is 5.5 ft tall.
Do you think that is too big for a dig it up and relocate out into my field ?
Thanks
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It looks great get as much roots as you can. Never wait for them to go dormant I just leave as much on the top as I have roots. It would be a good time to transplant it. The result will be a stool bed of new pears from the roots left behind. I make sure the soil is wet and it’s not blazing hot that day.
@scottfsmith … think I will opt for waiting until it is dormant and then relocate it.
I am going to try and find a couple nice ones to do that to this winter… I may let them grow and establish one season then graft them the next spring.
No big rush here.
It is already quite hot here… to hot for relocating trees comfortably… but just right for fishing and I need to get some of that done.
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Dormant is always better when you can. They are free so i have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Sometimes they are getting sprayed so someone gives me a week to dig up what i want which is why i know they dont have to be dormant. Some sites have hundreds of them. Who knows when your fishing maybe you will find more callery.
I wanted to make a July 1 update. We were away for a week but I can’t detect much change. I think they may have blushed more.
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I’ve got up to 6 feet of growth on grafts this spring.
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That ayers is looking really good!
Pretty soon your new tree will look like hers! A pear like that will likely be loaded heavy in the next 3 years. That’s pretty fast!
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Any thoughts on all of the black leaves? 
They’re in the pic where the camera was facing more into the sun- all on the moonglow wood. The pic where the sun was at my back is the Ayers portion of the tree. Despite the fungas/rust, many fruits look ok but all of the pears are quite small. Wonder if the rootstock is impacting that.
Here’s a pic from this am. It’s clearer to see the distinction between the blackening portion (Moonglow wood) and the Ayers. I also got a close up of the Moonglow.
Question on tree size…
If I graft kieffer / improved kieffer / orient onto callery rootstock… how tall should i expect the mature tree to end up being.
I have a somewhat narrow strip of cleared field along our country road where overhead elec lines bring electric and high speed internet (fiber)… down to our house.
It runs east/west and gets good all day sun.
I am planning to plant fruit trees and berry bushes in that location eventually.
But would need to stick with things that would not exceed 25-30 ft.
Note I bushhog the field including this strip under the elec lines 2x a year… so the elec co never does any type of mowing or spraying of it.
If callery/kieffer combo will exceed that height i have other locations with no height limits that i could put them in.
Thanks
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Mine are about 25-30 feet tall. I think they are about topped out.
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I’ve seen a Kieffer that was at least 65 feet tall. The tree was at an old homestead and probably 80 or so years old. I have no idea what rootstock.
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