if you dont get the rootstock u r looking for, is grafting them onto existing tree to make multiple varieties on one tree an option?

How long do scions last if you refrigerate them?

Can pear be grafted to apples? apple rootstock?

I wouldn't be afraid of the OH x 333 rootstock,even if it does present smaller pears (and I don't know whether it does.) I'm pretty sure it's what I have under my Gold Spice, and it has been healthy and precocious and manageable.

As lycheeluva suggests you can graft to an existing tree. If you do prefer to wait for a different rootstock you might well graft to an established pear and harvest the new growth next year when the timing works out for you. Or you could buy a $15.00 pear at the local big box store and park them there- well, for 35 scions you need three or four trees! Might need a friend for this one.

I think there is a very limited compatability between pears and apples. Banana pear can be used as an interstem between apple rootstock and pear cultivars, but that's not really an option for you at this time, I guess.

Scott did talk about keeping scions for a long time just last week. I don't remember the details, but it might be doable.

Myself, I'd try to find a nice, fairly neglected, well established pear and start sticking stuff to it.

Good luck,

Mark

w-man
I got some very nice 513 rootstocks from Raintree one year when I found myself in a similar situation - only it was my fault for fiddlin' around 'til it was awfully late to be procuring rootstocks; shipping will be a little pricey, but they were really nice stocks.
You might check Lawyer's Nursery - they might have 513 in cold storage that they could ship to you.
Barring that, I'm in full agreement with marknmt - a couple or three nice, well-branched callery pears(Bradford, Aristrocrat, etc.) from the closest big box store will make a very good place to 'park' portions of those scions 'til next year - and you'll have done the world a service by converting a callery pear to something worthwhile.

wildman, I have a bunch of scion myself, but found out that I should not graft the same year I buy the rootstocks. Do you have an established pear anywhere?

Here is a link that might be useful: Care and feeding of benchgrafts?

lychee,

unfortunately i only have 1 pear tree and it was planted last year. no place to graft onto old trees. do know where 1 is on a neighbors place down the hill, i could sneak in thru the woods and graft it but i think he would notice my id tags dangling from his prized pear that their ancesters planted when they 1st settled here.

frank,

not sure how long scions last refridgerated but i had apple scions for about 3 months until i grafted them.

mark,

i may very well have to use the 333 stock. it may be just fine but i had decided on 513 as being my best choice. if i cant find 513 i'll try the 333.

don't have a big box store besides wally and they hardly ordered any fruit trees in and just a few pears, i imagine they are all gone by now.

2 local nurseries charge about 35 bucks per tree, but imagine i'd need at least 6 or so to park the scions on,so thats scratched.

lucky,

i will take your advice and contact suppliers including lawyers just on the off chance they can help me. ya never know ! last year lawyers told me at their annual sale in spokane that they wouldn't have any fruit trees this year as none were budded. yea right. last night i checked what they sold at the moms day sale and they had tons of fruit trees ( including some i want bad )even butternut trees for 4 bucks a pop. i about came unglued since i took their word that there would not be anything and i didn't check ahead.

milehigh,

i'm gonna give the benchgrafts a shot and use it as a learning experience. fortunately i have many old apple trees and i benchgrafted 18 and as a backup i grafted 18 of the same cultivars on my old trees. the rootstocks are showing signs of life but my scions haven't woke up yet.

scottsmith,

if you see this just wanted to let u know i got my grand champion, since u figured u could help me with that 1. fingers crossed i get it going.appreciate your generosity.

thanks all,

wildlifeman

I like 333 a lot - I think the size issue is minor so is only a factor for commercial growers. Pears take easily so benchgrafts are probably a good route. I would plant them in amended soil with tons of mulch to give them an extra easy start. If your weather is warm enough (50+) just set them out right away, no need to callous inside.

Scott

mihigi,
While it's *preferrable* to have your rootstocks established for a year - or most of a season - before grafting or budding, it's not absolutely necessary.
I grafted onto my OHxF 513 rootstocks just a few weeks after planting them, and everything grew just fine.
Last year, I lined out about 25 seedling callery pears in a nursery row, then when they began leafing out, I double-worked them with named varieties grafted on top of an 8-10 inch interstem of 513. No noticeable problems, and some grew a couple of feet before the end of the season.

Lucky,
What's the advantage of using 513 as an interstem on callery vs using it as the rootstock? Better roots with a seedling? Do you get the same dwarfing/precociousness properties with OHXF as the interstem as you do with it as the rootstock?

Dave

thought i'd better get crackin' so i decided to go with 333 and have already ordered it.

decided to place these trees on the property line and since this rootstock produces a smaller tree than 513 it may serve my purpose better at that location.

wildlifeman

Dave,
I dunno. I decided to try it - and for those very reasons. 513 is a semi-standard - makes a tree about 75% of standard size, but it is FB-resistant, and supports both Euro and Asian pears, without the problem of 'pear decline' that some Asians experience on some OHxF stocks.
I had a bunch of 513 cuttings in the fridge and 25 callery seedlings in the nursery row, so I just decided to see if it would do anything in the way of dwarfing or speeding up fruiting - but I got second-hand information just a day or so ago that my hopes were probably in vein - an experienced pear enthusiast in TX, who's done a lot of work with different rootstocks, indicated that a 513 interstem probably wouldn't have any appreciable effect. Oh, well; nothing lost, really.

I can't tell a lot of size difference between my 513 and my seedling pears. I do notice the 333's are a bit smaller and the Betufolia are extremely vigorous. I was hoping the 513 would be more precocious than seedling but so far none of them have fruited (15 trees) and all of my other pear rootstocks are fruiting.

Scott

Scott-

You say you have pear on seedlings? Did you grow those?

No, I bought them. I was in a similar situation to wildlifeman, I had scions but no rootstocks and all I could find at that point was seedling. It wouldn't be hard to grow them, just plan ahead. I do have about a dozen peaches on rootstocks I grew myself from seed.

Scott