Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pear rootstocks
Rootstocks for European pears
Clonal quince rootstocks, which can induce different degrees of dwarfing rele-
vant to high-density planting, are used in areas with mild winters, especially in
western Europe, but are generally sensitive to fire blight and to lime-induced
chlorosis.
'Quince C' ('EMC'), is dwarfing as a result of the heavy and precocious
cropping that it induces. It was selected and produced in virus-free form at
East Malling.
'Quince A' ('EMA'), also from East Malling, is semi-dwarfing. It also induces
high productivity in relation to tree size but does not induce such precocious
cropping as 'Quince C'.
'EMH' ('QR
-
') is a much more recent quince rootstock introduced
by East Malling in
. It is more
dwarfing than 'Quince A' but usually rather more invigorating than 'Quince
C', while consistently inducing larger fruits of pear scion cultivars than either
of these.
'Adams
following field trials starting in
/
' from Belgium is intermediate between 'Quince C' and
'Quince A' in its effect on scion vigour. It induces precocious cropping.
'Sydo', from France, is of similar vigour to 'Quince A' and is particularly
recommended for 'Comice'.
'BA
', also from France, is rather more invigorating than 'Quince A' and
is widely used on poorer soils. It has also been recommended for inherently
weak-growing and precocious cultivars, e.g. 'Passe Crassane' (Carrera and
Ortiz,
).
Some clonal
Pyrus
rootstocks are also used:
'Old Home
×
Farmingdale' ('OHF') clones
and
are more invigor-
ating than 'BA
', but are resistant both to low temperature and to fire
blight.
'BP
', from South Africa, gives some dwarfing on poor soils but is too
invigorating for high-density planting systems on good soils.
Pyrus communis
seedlings, especially of the main commercial cultivars such
as 'D'Anjou' and 'Bartlett', are still widely used although trees on them can
be excessively vigorous and they are susceptible to fire blight.
Rootstocks for Asian pears
Seedling rootstocks of
Pyrus pyrifolia
are generally used. Japanese pear trees
generally have their vigour controlled by being trained on a horizontal trellis
