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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Pear rootstocks again

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  • From: Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pear rootstocks again
  • Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 08:50:26 -0500

At 11:50 AM 10/23/2005, you wrote:
Anyone thought of putting a good pear on Bradford rootstock? They are
relatively inexpensive and I have never seen fireblight on one. I have only
seen one or two fruits from a Bradford and I can understand why they aren't
considered for anything other than ornamental use.

Dr. Natelson will probably weigh in on this at some point, but I think P.calleryana is fairly commonly used as a rootstock in some parts of The South - perhaps with an interstem of one of the OHxF clones, in some instances, to provide some degree of dwarfing.

With the advent of all the 'new and improved' callery pear types in the urban/suburban landscape, you're likely to be seeing more and more callery pear fruits, now that there are multiple cultivars there to provide cross-pollenization - and volunteer pear seedlings. I've been noticing callery pears around town LOADED with fruits - so many that the branches are bowing - not to the extent that my fruiting selections do, but they're weighting the branches down, nonetheless.
I'm seeing callery pear seedlings popping up everywhere in fencerows, roadside ditches, perennial flowerbeds. On trips home to AL, it's not uncommon to see vacant lots and areas adjacent to interstate interchanges that are becoming veritable pure stands of P.calleryana - and they're especially easy to spot driving along the interstate and major highways in January, 'cuz they're still wearing a colorful coat of fall leaves(or at least in AL, they still have their leaves in Jan.)

Lucky




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