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SLN
Dec 31, 2022 8:55:23 GMT -6
Sandbur likes this
Post by smsmith on Dec 31, 2022 8:55:23 GMT -6
I got the SLN catalog yesterday too. I wonder if they'll start changing their descriptions/names of varieties as they're proven to be something else via DNA?
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 10:35:10 GMT -6
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smsmith likes this
Post by benmnwi on Jan 1, 2023 10:35:10 GMT -6
I haven’t ordered from SLN in years, but I still like to get their catalog.
I’ve been impressed with their pear trees, so maybe I can find room for just one more.
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 10:46:07 GMT -6
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 1, 2023 10:46:07 GMT -6
I haven’t ordered from SLN in years, but I still like to get their catalog. I’ve been impressed with their pear trees, so maybe I can find room for just one more. I haven’t ordered pear trees from SLN and was thinking about cutting my franken pear down. It produces a few fruit about every year since I added some scion from you and Stu. I used to have two pear trees and cut one down. I just don’t see an impressive crop, ever.
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 11:36:55 GMT -6
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 1, 2023 11:36:55 GMT -6
I haven’t ordered from SLN in years, but I still like to get their catalog. I’ve been impressed with their pear trees, so maybe I can find room for just one more. I haven’t ordered pear trees from SLN and was thinking about cutting my franken pear down. It produces a few fruit about every year since I added some scion from you and Stu. I used to have two pear trees and cut one down. I just don’t see an impressive crop, ever. You must be just a little too cold for the pears to thrive. I’ve been really surprised by the volume of pears I get here and they are pretty tasty. I think there are better options for wildlife though since the pears drop at a time when natural food is abundant.
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 12:10:47 GMT -6
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Post by smsmith on Jan 1, 2023 12:10:47 GMT -6
My Ure, Golden Spice, and Early Gold pears all produce good crops. I haven't had a crop on any straight European pears yet, but I expect to at some point. I also expect good crops from Taylor Apple and Okolo pears. Both are Asian hybrids I think. The north neighbor gets good pear crops too.
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 15:33:22 GMT -6
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 1, 2023 15:33:22 GMT -6
I have noticed the decrease in pear crops as you go north in the state. I suspect I am a bit colder than Stu, lighter soils, and somewhat lower pH.
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SLN
Jan 1, 2023 15:34:52 GMT -6
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 1, 2023 15:34:52 GMT -6
I have noticed the decrease in pear crops as you go north in the state. I suspect I am a bit colder than Stu, lighter soils, and somewhat lower pH. I have also noticed that my pear tree has dead wood in the center of some/ many branches. I am not sure what caused that.
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SLN
Jan 2, 2023 8:01:54 GMT -6
Post by smsmith on Jan 2, 2023 8:01:54 GMT -6
I haven’t ordered pear trees from SLN and was thinking about cutting my franken pear down. It produces a few fruit about every year since I added some scion from you and Stu. I used to have two pear trees and cut one down. I just don’t see an impressive crop, ever. You must be just a little too cold for the pears to thrive. I’ve been really surprised by the volume of pears I get here and they are pretty tasty. I think there are better options for wildlife though since the pears drop at a time when natural food is abundant. I agree. I have been trying to find and plant/graft later bearing varieties. I've got a few that are supposed to ripen in October and some are purported to hang a bit after ripe. Time will tell.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 2, 2023 21:06:01 GMT -6
You must be just a little too cold for the pears to thrive. I’ve been really surprised by the volume of pears I get here and they are pretty tasty. I think there are better options for wildlife though since the pears drop at a time when natural food is abundant. I agree. I have been trying to find and plant/graft later bearing varieties. I've got a few that are supposed to ripen in October and some are purported to hang a bit after ripe. Time will tell. There was a giant pear tree next to Kwik trip in Lewiston Minnesota that made me believe pears are a decent option for my place. It had as much fruit as the best apple trees I’ve seen, so regardless of the drop time I thought pears would be a good option in case there are future apple problems. The tree has since died off for the most part, but looks like a 50 year old tree so I still think they are worth a shot.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 3, 2023 7:40:40 GMT -6
I agree. I have been trying to find and plant/graft later bearing varieties. I've got a few that are supposed to ripen in October and some are purported to hang a bit after ripe. Time will tell. There was a giant pear tree next to Kwik trip in Lewiston Minnesota that made me believe pears are a decent option for my place. It had as much fruit as the best apple trees I’ve seen, so regardless of the drop time I thought pears would be a good option in case there are future apple problems. The tree has since died off for the most part, but looks like a 50 year old tree so I still think they are worth a shot. Down by you, pears should crank out huge crops once the trees are mature. I'd even try Bartlett down there. As I've typed on here before, my wife and I "found" a large pear tree growing not far southeast of Hayward, WI. It was loaded with fruit the first week or so of October. Hayward is zone 3b. If it can happen there, it can happen here.
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SLN
Jan 3, 2023 11:32:57 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Sandbur on Jan 3, 2023 11:32:57 GMT -6
There was a giant pear tree next to Kwik trip in Lewiston Minnesota that made me believe pears are a decent option for my place. It had as much fruit as the best apple trees I’ve seen, so regardless of the drop time I thought pears would be a good option in case there are future apple problems. The tree has since died off for the most part, but looks like a 50 year old tree so I still think they are worth a shot. Down by you, pears should crank out huge crops once the trees are mature. I'd even try Bartlett down there. As I've typed on here before, my wife and I "found" a large pear tree growing not far southeast of Hayward, WI. It was loaded with fruit the first week or so of October. Hayward is zone 3b. If it can happen there, it can happen here. Too bad we don’t have scion!
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 3, 2023 12:29:56 GMT -6
I have a couple pear trees growing on my Rusk County place, but they haven't dropped any fruit yet. They have been hit with some extremely cold temperatures since I planted them 12+ years ago, so they are certainly hardy.
I was very impressed with how good the pears by my house tasted. I always assumed that they couldn't compare with the standard store bought pear, but they were just as good. They are a little smaller, but the flavor and texture is very similar.
The fruit load on my Beierschmidt pear this year was so great that I had to pick most of the pears before they were ripe since some of the branches were so overloaded that they were starting to break. This year I'll just thin them pretty hard when they are much smaller and hopefully that will fix the issue. The upright growth of those pears doesn't seem to work well with the heavy fruit loads, so some serious thinning is needed. The tree is getting very large though, so thinning can be challenging.
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SLN
Jan 3, 2023 19:18:13 GMT -6
Sandbur likes this
Post by smsmith on Jan 3, 2023 19:18:13 GMT -6
Down by you, pears should crank out huge crops once the trees are mature. I'd even try Bartlett down there. As I've typed on here before, my wife and I "found" a large pear tree growing not far southeast of Hayward, WI. It was loaded with fruit the first week or so of October. Hayward is zone 3b. If it can happen there, it can happen here. Too bad we don’t have scion! Of the 14 varieties of pears I've got growing here now, I have to believe at least one will be a winner. If that pear growing near Hayward was a grafted variety I'm guessing it's a variety I have growing here now. It was near a number of resorts, so there's a good chance somebody planted it at some point in the past. edit...I suppose I should add a caveat to that ^^^ That pear near Hayward could be one of the Apostle series of pears from Canada. They are reportedly hardy all the way through zone 3 and into zone 2. They are also reportedly pretty much inedible for fresh eating.
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