EXPERIENCES WITH NEW PEAR ROOTSTOCKS IN NORTHERN GERMANY

In a rootstock trial set up in 2002, trees of pear cultivars ‘Williams’, ‘Conference’, and ‘Alexander Lucas’ were planted as two-year-old feathered trees from the nursery on rootstocks Quince S1, PiBu2, PiBu3 and Pyrodwarf.
While Quince A and Quince C rootstocks were used as comparable standards, trees on rootstock Fox 11 were planted as one-year-old trees.
Final results are given after seven cropping years.
Regarding vegetative growth, the smallest trees were on rootstock Quince C. Quince S1 performed a little more vigorously and was very similar to rootstock Quince A. Fox 11 always had the tallest trees at the end of the trial.
The growth of rootstocks Pyrodwarf, PiBu2 and PiBu3 showed some variation, being more vigorous than Quince A or showing symptoms of incompatibility and then growth ceasing suddenly.
Cumulative yield efficiency was always highest on rootstock Quince C and second best on Quince A. Yields with Quince S1 in some cases were similar to that of Quince A, but could not clearly exceed them.
Yields and/or cumulative yield efficiency with Pyrodwarf, PiBu2, PiBu3 and Fox 11 generally were less than on the standard Quince rootstocks.
Notably with rootstock Pyrodwarf, fruit size was clearly smaller with all three tested cultivars.
Summarizing all experiences with these rootstocks under Northern German conditions, no improvement could be found above current standards.
Thus, depending on the vigour of the variety, Quince C or Quince A still will remain the recommended rootstocks for pears in Northern Germany.

X International Symposium on Integrating Canopy, Rootstock and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems

R. Stehr

Quince S1, Fox 11, PiBu2, PiBu3, vigour, yield, fruit-size

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2014.1058.58