North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 10:07 AM 6/15/2004 -0600, Dean wrote:
> I and others have been experimenting with Amelanchier for pear rootstock.
> It is very dwarfing and quite precocious.  It isn't perfect however as 
> another grower has found that you should leave a shoot of amelanchier to 
> grow as well as the pear scion as the rootstock just isn't that happy to 
> have a pear on it.  My own grafts just sat there for two years before 
> finally showing some vigor this year.

I've got several pears growing on cockspur hawthorn(C.crus-galli) 
rootstock.  Oldest one on this is a graft of Ubileen, probably 4  years 
old, looks quite healthy, with good branching, but is only about 5 ft 
tall.  No fruit yet.  I'm somewhat concerned about the possibility of the 
tree breaking over at the graft union at some point in time, as the pear is 
quite a bit larger, already, than the hawthorn understock.
Have several pears grafted onto seedling apple/crab rootstocks(purchased as 
P.communis seedlings, but they weren't).  Magness and Warren look OK, but 
Luscious and Ayers evidently don't 'like' apple - or, maybe the apple 
doesn't like the pears.  Ayers grew like crazy the first year, but has 
stalled over the past 3 years or so, and is now declining.  I've re-grafted 
it onto an OHxF rootstock.


Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY