5 in one Pear tree advice requested

Aug 24, 2018 06:29:35

Hello I'm new to the forum and new to fruit tree growing. Glad to have found this forum and hope to contribute once i get a handle on things.
Prelude: i live in oshawa ontario (about 30 minutes east of Toronto) zone 5b. i purchased two multi grafted fruit trees in mid june of this year. One apple and one pear. I have since then immersed myself into learning all i can to enjoy these trees and keep them as healthy as possible. The apple is doing quite well...no issues. The pear is doing ok with 3 varieties maintaining good leaf color but no new growth since planting. The Bartlett pear branch has shot up a vigorous new shoot that has probably grown over 2 feet in very short order (water sprout??) The red bartlet has also gained some new leaves but nothing vigorous. Question: my thinking is to allow the shoot to grow which will allow the roots to absorb extra extra energy when tree becomes dormant. Then in spring completely prune shoot and lightly trim other varieties. The thought is extra energy stored will assist other varieties in getting a good growth start in the spring while assisting in balancing out the tree in the process. I know this type of growth isnt desirable in older trees and i would have likely pruned off shoot earlier in the season had it occured then. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Wayne

Aug 24, 2018 12:43:44

Your idea is sound thinking Wayne, since this is a new planting, the tree needs to put all the energy into growing new roots this year and next year.
You can help root growth along with vitamin B-12, just mix some up and pour at the outer edge of the root ball, this will stimulate the roots to grow.

don't wait till spring to do the pruning job, wait until the trees are fully dormant. I like to prune my fruit trees in January so they are all done before the bud swell comes on.

Redhawk

Aug 25, 2018 06:43:43

Thanks for your reply Bryant. Will see where i can get some B12 from. Curious did you mean B1? Seems there are mention of B1 being used to stimulate root growth.

Wayne

Aug 26, 2018 22:17:21

In my experience these multi-grafted trees rarely do well in the long term. Inevitably one of the grafts proves more vigorous than the rest and starts to dominate. The only way to maintain it is to continually be pruning this one back, perhaps multiple times a season, in order to give the others a chance.

Aug 26, 2018 22:30:46

5 in 1
I have one that self-selected and it is now only a 3 in 1.
The south side graft bears the most, has denser branches/leaves (less water sprout looking for sunlight), and is somehow still still monopolizing most the sunlight/root minerals

Aug 27, 2018 05:50:47

Thanks for the replies, i appreciate them. Yes i found that multi variety trees can be a challenge to say the least, but due to space limitations/landscaping in my backyard i didnt want to overcrowd numerous trees. Also taking into consideration the pollination element I decided to go with multi grafted varieties. With proper pruning, spreading and various other techniques i hope to at least grow 3 of the five pear varieties. Will do my best to give all varieties a fair go at it and see what happens.

Cheers,

Wayne

Aug 27, 2018 06:06:12

Wayne Dunlop wrote:Thanks for your reply Bryant. Will see where i can get some B12 from. Curious did you mean B1? Seems there are mention of B1 being used to stimulate root growth.

Wayne

Both B-1 and B-12 give the same stimulus to root systems and I have some old multivitamins hanging around most times so I dissolve those and dilute the mix (4 tabs in one gallon of water then 1 cup of that to a gallon) to water my new trees and even transplanted vegetables.

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