Progating pear cuttings

I pruned a bartlett pear tree and had some cuttings, so I decided to put them in a OJ carton with about an inch of water and set in the sun and see if it will propagate.

I don't have high hopes but it would be cool to have two more trees so I figured its worth trying.

Has anyone propagated pear cuttings? If so was it successful?

I haven't ever propagated from cuttings, so feedback is appreciated.

I can't speak to wether or not they will root in water but I do know they will cook in the sun. Water heats up pretty quickly in the sun and in that mini greenhouse you've made it will happen fast.

Good luck with the rooting though. You've made me think that maybe I should try to do the same.

I have not found a successful way to root cuttings from my Kieffer pear. I've tried several different ways, soil, water, with and without hormone. Which is not to say it can't be done, just that it's not foolproof/easy and I don't know how.

I haven't tried pear, but generally cuttings will work better in a moist media like perlite, vermiculite, sand... rather than directly in water. Controlling the humidity(ie mini-greenhouse like you have is generally good. Roasting in the sun, less so.

Jessica and Dillon,

Any idea what max temp a cutting can withstand? Or even a ballpark?

Do y'all usually do cuttings inside? Outside without mini greenhouse?

It was supposed to have been 33F last night and a high of 50 ish, so I doubt it is already too hot (might have frozen it actually), but its good to be mindful. I might stick a spare thermometer in the bottle next time. I'm curious yo see how hot it actually is. If I do should I measure air temperature or water temperature?

Little greenhouses like that can be REALLY effective at heating up when in direct sunlight.

The cuttings I did in my little greenhouse seemed to tolerate the early spring temps approaching 90F for brief periods. These were kept shaded within the greenhouse, though. This may be higher than optimal, certainly my success rate wasn't terribly high. I can't claim to be an adept with cuttings just yet; I've propagated dozens of cuttings successfully, but I'd really like to achieve a higher success rate. A misting bed is on the menu, but not this year it seems!


I've done cuttings inside, sometimes on a heatmat(good success), and outside. Outside, I've done them in plastic-covered totes in a shady area(lowest success), in totes in a shed(next lowest) and in my greenhouse as soon as it was done(much better). In each case the tote acted as a mini-greenhouse for smaller containers with moist media(perlite, vermiculite, sand...). Inside and in the greenhouse I also used containers outside of totes, with a bag overtop to provide some humidity.

I've found the best method is just using that material and graft it onto seedlings. Any seedlings near the mother tree?