Scion/Rootstock Influence on Bloom Date and Early Fruit Production of Asian Pears in Washington State

Abstract

Time of bloom and fruit production for the third and fourth growing seasons (1987 and 1988) of a planting of 10 Asian pear cultivars (‘20th Century,’ ‘Chojuro,’ ‘Hosui,’ ‘Kikusui,’ ‘Niitaka,’ ‘Okusankichi,’ ‘Seigyoku,’ ‘Shinko,’ ‘Shinseiki’ and ‘ Tsu Li’) on 6 rootstocks (Old Home x Farmingdale (OHF) 51, OHF 97, OHF 282, OHF 217, OHF 333, and Provence quince) are reported. There was little consistent effect of rootstock on time of bloom. ‘Shinko,’ ‘Niitaka,’ and ‘Tsu Li’ bloomed earliest and ‘Hosui,’ ‘Kikusui,’ and ‘Okusankichi’ bloomed latest. Generally, later-blooming cultivars had a shorter bloom period. A significant scion/rootstock interaction influenced fruit production, but generally, ‘Shinko’ and ‘20th Century’ on OHF rootstocks had the greatest fruit numbers, and ‘Kikusui’ and ‘Okusankichi’ had the least. ‘Tsu Li’ was barren except on Provence quince in 1987 and produced very few fruit in 1988.