To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] quince as r/s for pear
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:27:49 -0800
Hélène,
Quince A is semi-dwarfing, but the reason for interstems on quince when
grafting European pears is incompatibility between the European pear and
the quince r/s. Some Asian pears are incompatible too.
I have a list and about half of the pears I graft are compatible with
quince and the other half are not.
I haven't grafted any Asian pears and P ussuriensis is for Asian pears
so I don't know anything about compatibility with P ussurienses.
We usually use old Home as an interstem because it is readily available,
but I have used German Butter as an interstem. The interstem can be as
short as one bud, but most of us do a 3-bud graft and this gives a
little more space when grafting the chosen variety on top.
It is possible, if you are precise, to do both grafts at the same time,
but usually I graft a bunch of quince with Old Home and let them grow
for a year and then graft the chosen European pear variety on top.
Why do we use quince r/s when interstems are necessary? It is the only
r/s we have been able to get.
Derry Walsh
South Coastal B.C.
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Hélène Dessureault wrote:
I am not sure why you mention interstem. Is it to reduce size or for
incompatibility between some varieties?
Re: [NAFEX] Heirloom Apple for Quebec
, (continued)