North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] using old scionwood

Here is an update on using some really old scionwood.

 

Sometime in the Winter of 2002-2003, a worker at the national pear repository in Corvallis cut some pear twigs to fill a request I had made for scionwood.  After a heat treatment to minimize the chances of passing on some insect pest (I can’t remember the problem), my scionwood arrive in late March 2003.  I did a few grafts that Spring, and the leftovers went into the veggie bin in the frig.  The were wrapped in damp paper towel inside a plastic bag.  I did a few bud grafts that summer.  None of my grafts worked that season, but I hung onto the wood.  In December I cleaned out the frig, and the scionwood ended up in the shed outside.  I found the bag of wood around a month ago, and some of it still looked OK.  I decided to do some grafts and share the results.

 

April 2004:  I had run out of pear rootstock, so I grafted on seedling mountain ash that I found growing wild in my neighborhood.  From previous experiments, I knew pear was compatible with mountain ash.  I used a cleft graft I recently learned from Leonard Jessen along with rubber strips and parafilm.  After 10 days, the buds on that old wood are starting to push through the parafilm!   From December through April, it sat in my shed on a shelf in the dark where the temperature fluctuated between 35-50F.  That wood was cut almost a year and a half ago, and I some how managed to keep it dormant through neglect.  I’m glad I was the one that found these twigs because I’m sure anyone else would have quickly thrown it out.

 

I won’t believe these grafts have worked until the branches have grown a few inches, but so far things are looking much better than I would have thought.  The one that looks the best so far is Sucre Verte…

“The name means 'Sweet Green' in English. Origin obscure. Believed to have come from Barmont, a chateau on the boundary of Burgundy. Described as early as 1598. Well known in Paris by 1670. Fruit small in size, roundish-turbinate in form. Skin smooth, glossy, intense green in color with inconspicuous dots. Flesh white, fine, but with some grit at the center, buttery, juicy. Fairly sweet, nut-like aroma, pleasing flavor. Early midseason. Tree vigorous, spreading in habit, very productive. Moderately susceptible to blight.
- H. Hartman, 1957”

 

-Mark Lee, Seattle, zone 7B/8A

 

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lon J. Rombough
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 9:57 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] using old scionwood

 

If it's alive and the grafts take, there is a good chance that the scions could at least push some adventitious buds from the base of the existing buds, even if they are dead.  At very least, it's a way to get some new information.
-Lon Rombough

 

 

Last year was a crazy year for me.  I had a big remodel done on my house.  Everything my family owned was either sent off to storage or packed into a few small rooms untouched by the remodel.  I had a bundle of pear scionwood arrive last Spring that went unused.  These were stored for a time in the frig, but then I lost track of them in the construction mess.  Somehow they ended up in my shed.  I found them yesterday while cleaning-up.  Some of the sticks were shriveled up, and most of the buds look lifeless, but when I cut into some of the wood, I found green and healthy looking layers.



My question is would there be any point in trying to propagate this scionwood if the buds are dead?  It will be at least another year before I can get some of these varieties again, but without buds on the scions I don¹t think I will get a head start on just waiting for new wood next year.  Any thoughts?