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Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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Posted by gonebananas 7/8 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 3, 09 at 10:38
| There are a few more pears I would like to collect for trial here in hot humid "fireblight and disease central" (though I think I’ve read we get some FB reprieve in midsummer due to our common 95+ degree temperatures).
I can find several (presently looking at Fan-Stil and Florahome) on standard pear rootstock, which of course is almost certainly highly susceptible to FB.
How does this sound as a plan?
1) Grow for a year or a few years in 25 gallon pots at a location where I can readily take care of root-suckers hygienically and protectively. (Rumor has it that the root cramping may also help stimulate early fruiting.)
2) When eventually planting in the field, place the graft union below ground, say a half-foot down, to promote eventual rooting by the more resistant scion. This will help prevent future collapse of the established tree if a rootstock sucker even just a few inches tall contracts FB.
Reasonable?
In more complicated manner I suppose I could stilt-graft in a few Callery rootstocks alongside.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| Awhile back there was a discussion on scion rooting and there was mixed data on whether scions rooted - sometimes they do sometimes they don't. Also the younger the tree the more likely the scion will root, so growing in pots is going to work against that. If you are going to try this I would just plant out with a low union and keep on the sprouts. Personally since pears are so easy to graft I would just graft to the rootstock of your choice. Scott |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| Any word on what the 'standard' rootstock is? If it's callery pear, that's probably more FB-resistant than most any P.communis strain. Regardless, if it's on standard(seedling) rootstock, I doubt you'd see any difference in mature size or time to bearing if you get scion-rooting or if it's just on seedling rootstock, so I guess if I were worried about FB infection of the rootstock, I'd just plant it with the graft union below ground level.
But Scott makes a good point - why not just graft onto a known FB-resistant rootstock? |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| One source (Bay Laural) says it is P. communis (probably Bartlett seeding) for the rootstock. Why would anyone put a FB resistant scion on a FB susceptible rootstock without some good reason like dwarfing? I want to buy a plant to save two years to fruiting, though I will graft some on OHxF 513 anyway. But who knows, the precociousness induced by OHxF may make the wait equal. I think I will do as suggested and simply bury the graft union right from the beginning. I wonder if shaving a vertical line or two on the scion just above the graft and painting with rooting hormone would help. It can't hurt I suppose. |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| I see you list you list your zone as 7/8. Were are you exactly? If you are in zone 7 I have one major question: why are you wasting your time with fan-stil and Floridahome? There are much better pears you can grow in your zone. Much, much better and there are plenty with equal or better fb resistance. For instance Moonglow, Ayers, Potomac, Shenandoah, Blakes Pride, some of the Harrow pears, Etc. All of which are better, much better than the two you mentioned. Depending on your soil I would vote for Calleryana or ohf rootstocks but you can likely get away with seedling if you needed to without jumping through all the hoops but I dont know why you would. There are plenty of sources that sell good pears on good rootstocks. Check out Womacks, Raintree, and Johnson nurseries for sure and Im sure there are others. Thanks,
Scape |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| I'm at the boundary of 7 and 8, with some revised maps putting me more into 8. I am trying lots of pears including all you mention (possibly I haven't yet found Shenandoah, I forget) and a lot more. For the most part I have to get them on whatever they are on (though I have grafted maybe 10 otherwise unavailable ones from the USDA germplasm collection onto Callery pear or OHxF 513. I will soom be propagaing my own OHxF 51 rootstock as well as for a few trials. I have checked and purchased from those nurseries you mention and many others. |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| I'm afraid you may be disapointed with the quality of fanstil and floridahome but it sounds like space is not a limitation so you may as well try. I think Adams County has Shenandoah, I think and they have a newer usda release that sounds good too. How are you going about propagating ohf #51? I think that was the best rootstock option by far for the south. It was perfect but I was under the impression it was just to difficult to propagate even under tc and had gone almost extinct so to speak from the nursery biz. Do you have a source for #51 or have you propagated them before? That is very exiting. Thanks,
Scape |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| OHxF 513 is readily available as rootstock from Raintree and One Green World, where I have gotten it. I can't quite tell by looking at them if they are from cuttings or stooling. OHxF 51 was recommended by a NAFEX grower in Virginia I believe (LuckyP reposted or linked the post) who also said that 513 dwarfed too much ("bonzai") in his climate, which would be similar to mine. I got 51 as scions from the USDA germplasm collection and will try now to airlayer it and later stool it. If the stooling doesn't work I'll try root cuttings. Thanks for the reference to Adams County. I wasn't aware of them. If I don't have Shenandoah I'll give them a try. I am trying quite a few. I have to steel myself for a number failing or not panning out. But that is the purpose of the attempt. And I'll be able to warn others locally. |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| I know what you mean. Its all trial and error isnt it. Best of luck with the 51. If you get them going and ever want to sell some Im sure you could sell a bunch to people in the south. I want to second the statement that 513 is too dwarfing for me here but I think it is the awfull Texas heat that causes this. In other areas this may not be a problem. Let us know how it goes with the rooting experiment. Thanks,
Scape |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| Thanks. It will of course take a number of years to make assessment of the various pears as fruiting trees, but by this time next year I should know whether OHxF 51 will airlayer successfully (I don't see why not) and maybe two years past that to see if cuttings (stem and root) and stooling are successful enough for us amateurs to propagate at least enough to meet our own wants and needs. My hope is that there is moderate "take" and that it is merely profitable commercial stem-cutting propagation that was challenged. I'll be glad to give away "starter" plants on their own roots if this works, so others can later easily propagate their own. If I'm lucky I'll keep a few stooling plants around to fill my own needs. At a bit less convenience I'll grow some in 25-45 gallon pots and tear apart the root system for cuttings every year or two. Of course, ultimately they may turn out to be no better than Callery seedlings if they don't dwaef a bit here. But we'll see eventually. |
RE: Fireblight-resistant pear on susceptible rootstock
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| I have seen #51 in many locations in a few diffrent states provide ideal dwarfing. All the owners said they trees on that stock were blight resistant also. I think the issue has always been availablity. I also think that that most northern nurseries wouldnt grow because it doesnt do as well in the north than it does here in the south (one of the few) so it may be that they overstated the difficulty of propagation so they can grow something else. Best of luck and keep me in mind if you get some takes! I would be glad to buy some from you. Thanks,
Scape |
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