Anybody know how to start a pear tree?

[averytds]

A storm took my pear tree. Anyone know how to start new ones off. Do I just put some branches in water?

 

[coopy]

You can grow them from seeds. It takes several years. I would buy a new one and plant it this spring.

 

[Cassandra]

I would second buying one. It takes such an awful long time for the little ones to start making fruit. I bought a 3 year old kieffer pear for $28 last year and it has a whole bunch of pears on it this year.

Cassandra

 

[patandchickens]

I think one of the major reasons that pears are normally grafted is that they strike and grow better that way than on their own roots (if indeed you could get any roots to form). I mean, you could *try* it -- I'd try a few bits in willow water, and a few others treated with Rootone or other hormone rooting powder and stuck in soilless mix with a baggie loosely over the top (very loosely). I would really not hold my breath though.

You can plant seeds but aside from taking forever, you will not get back the same plant as it came from (genetic variation).

Best thing, if you really care about the quality of the pears you get (and the timeframe, as a lesser consideration) would be to just sigh and buy a new pear tree.

(On the offchance you know someone who does grafting, you could ask them to rescue a scion of the fallen tree for you if it's not too late).

Condolences on the pear tree, but drooling shamelessly at the thought of a buncha pears all needing to get used up ,

Pat

 

[averytds]

What is grafting?

Ugh! Planting takes forever. At my old place we planted apple when DS was 18mnths old. He's now 9 yrs and NOW they decide to start producing.

We planted apple, peach and plum here. Couldn't find any pear. Former owner was by and we started talking fruit trees. Turned out we had a pear tree "sort of" and didn't even know it.

It was like a limb growing off a walnut tree. DH almost cut it off several times this winter and spring. Is that grafting?

Probably moving next summer anyways, but you never know.

 

[bills]

What is grafting? .

Grafting is using a good solid, healthy rootstock, (usually best to use one with certain resistance to diseases), and splicing, I guess you could say, a branch (scion) of a variety of fruit that you want to grow, onto it.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out You Tube videos, of which there are several, to see how it's done. Here is one to start you off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UC5Dr3tWDc&feature=related

There are several types of grafting methods shown. It's common to graft just as a tree rootstock is coming out of dormancy. You may be able to store a scion from your broken tree, until you can graft it, as patandchickens mentions. How exactly to do that over such a long time, may take a little research.

There are some methods that might allow you graft sooner, but again more research will help with the success.

 

[averytds]

Wow bills. Thanks. That must be how we got the pear tree to begin with. Botched or forgotten graft.