Lychee, it's alleged to be possible, but in real life it probably doesn't happen very often or very well. (I was going to try the same thing, but ended up finding one more spot for one more tree!) If I recall correctly pear grafts to banana apple, and banana apple grafts to other apples, so if you can establish the banana apple as an interstem you can do it.

I haven't tried it, partly because I was told it probably wouldn't work, so you should ignore me and go ahead, or nobody will ever try it and we'll never know for sure, ay?

Good luck,

M

I did one this spring by mistake, an apple scion someone gave me turned out to be a pear. Its growing well now, but the problem is incompatibility is usually delayed. I'm going to let it keep growing just for fun to see how long it lasts.

Scott

thanks for the responses- Im really surprised I found virtually no info on this online- I would have thought this would have been tried quite regularly-

scott- how long after grafting do incompatibility problems usually kick in

The old 'Winter Banana' cultivar and the 'Superclone' selection of apples are reputed to be quite graft-compatible with many pear varieties, and form long-lasting unions with no evidence of rejection - a friend told me of seeing Winter Banana trees with multiple Asian pear grafts that bore fruit for 10 years or more before they were removed to make room for another university project. Likewise, 'Fertility' pear will reputedly support apple grafts well.

About 12 years ago, I purchased a bundle of 10 P.communis seedling rootstock and lined them out in the orchard to serve as understocks for pear varieties. One was grafted to 'Ayers', and grew vigorously the first year, but declined over the next two and died out. Another rejected 3 attempts at grafting 'Luscious' before I gave up and let the rootstock grow; it was an apple seedling - as was the one supporting the 'Ayers' graft, which died after its third season. Guess if I'd have looked closely at those seedlings, I'd have realized they were NOT pears - but it didn't hit home until I gave up for the year and they grew out - unmistakably apple.

In the spring of 2012, I attempted to graft a Pear scion onto my apple tree using Winter Banana Apple as an inter stem.
(All of he grafting i do is "Whip and Tongue" grafts wrapped in grafting tape. I then coat the wrapped union with grafting wax)

The parent branch was a Winesap Apple branch with a grafted Winter Banana Apple scion from a few years before.
(I actually have two of these paired branches.)
I then attempted to graft two "Kieffer" Pear scions onto my two Winter Banana Apple inter stems. The "Kieffer" Pear scions started to grow, but died a few weeks later.

This spring (2014) I attempted to graft this Apple / Pear union again using the same Winter Banana Apple inter stems. I had just enough branch on my Winter Banana branches to try this experiment one more time. This time around, I used "Sunrise Pear" scionwood.
The grafting was a screaming success! (I had enough "Sunrise Pear" scionwood to graft two branches onto my apple tree, and two more onto an ornamental pear. All four pear grafts were a success!)

I have no idea why this experiment failed in 2012 and was a success in 2014. I do not know if it had to do with the pear variety used, or if it had to do with environmental circumstances. I will re-post in 2015 with an update.

There are a few different treads on this subject so I will be re-posting on those threats also.

Below are pictures taken on 07/27/2014.

Picture #2

I have 3 varieties apples, and three varieties of pears on the same tree. This is there first year to have fruit. It is possible but it takes a little trial and error. Good luck, Bill

Correction. 4 varieties of apples, and 3 varieties of pears.

Kevin. If your interested you can try yates apples on orient or goldrush on ayers. These were whip grafted this winter and they are growing well. My others are in there third year and have fruit. I sampled one of the apples today. It tastes just like a pear. Just kidding it was just as it should be. Bill

I've currently got 'Callaway' crab grafted onto a seedling callery pear - a friend who's gullible enough to fall for the Arbor Day Foundation pitch gave it to me, labeled as a "Sargent Crab" - but I knew it wasn't that. Anyway, Callaway has grown well, and has fruited well for the past 2-3 years.
Graft union is ugly as sin, and I'm constantly having to break off pear shoots below the graft. I'm sure it'll fail at some point, but I'm letting it go to see how long it'll last.

Hi lucky_p,

That is one question I have myself. Do the tree cells in the apple / pear union grow into each other forming a natural (and strong) grafting bond? or do they simply grow next to and independent from each other forming a weak union?

Kevin