TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
I used Chestnut Ridge of pike county in Illinois and grew my own starting in 2016
I stopped ordering from them a few years back when my own progeny started to produce viable burs
gratifying
bill
Dr Deer Pear
- Thread starter TonySoprano
- Start date
I used Chestnut Ridge of pike county in Illinois and grew my own starting in 2016
I stopped ordering from them a few years back when my own progeny started to produce viable burs
gratifying
bill
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
You are a few years ahead of me. I have some that just started making viable burs this year.
Hoyt that is an excellent idea, funny how you don't consider growing from acorns just because you haven't in the past. I grow food plots, I grow a large garden, I grow pollinator flowers and I graft fruit trees, I have buried acorns in the woods hoping they come up but I have never grown a tree in a pot from my own nut. I shall. I will have a few Chinese chestnuts this year that are producing viable chestnuts and I will take even more pride if I grow from them. So I will now ask what is best practice, do I need let chestnut hit the ground or can I pick from tree, do I need to put in fridge for months or plant in pots in October, should I direct sow them and put a tube above them, ...........Do I need to go to YouTube and leave you boys alone?
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
There are a couple of great threads on this forum for growing chestnuts from seed. Don't overthink it. It is stupid easy to do. I'd source your own if you can, otherwise I'd check out Route 9 cooperative or Pike County Chestnuts for seed sources. I would direct seed a few next spring and also get some started indoors this winter/early spring. I do the indoor thing mostly for a cabin fever habitat related project. PM me or respond here and I'll be happy to help get you going for both.
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
I have Dr. Deer Pear. It produced first time I think 3 years ago. The fruits were really small at that time. It hung on the tree into January, which surprised me nothing ate it by then. They were mushy and flavorless (I sampled one) at that time. The next two years I've had no fruit. I've read that they are very prone to blooming early and not fruiting due to freezes. I also read that Chestnut Hill is no longer selling them. I haven't looked though.
Here is a picture of Becton (main trunk), Gilmer Xmas (grafted on low branches on the right) and Ms. Laneene (front bottom closest to the camera) I took on Monday. I have multiples of Becton and Gallaway among various other trees from The Wildlife Group. I've been most impressed with Becton so far. To date, its grown faster and fruited earlier than the others. Gilmer Xmas was a graft but it fruited first year it was grafted, everything was frozen out last year, and fruited again this year. It's still too early to make any conclusions though. Ayers in my backyard has grown extremely quick as well.
Here is a picture of Becton (main trunk), Gilmer Xmas (grafted on low branches on the right) and Ms. Laneene (front bottom closest to the camera) I took on Monday. I have multiples of Becton and Gallaway among various other trees from The Wildlife Group. I've been most impressed with Becton so far. To date, its grown faster and fruited earlier than the others. Gilmer Xmas was a graft but it fruited first year it was grafted, everything was frozen out last year, and fruited again this year. It's still too early to make any conclusions though. Ayers in my backyard has grown extremely quick as well.
TonySoprano
5 year old buck +
Correct , Chestnut Hill no longer sells the DR Deer pear , they have one that looks identical on their website they call a Trophy Pear.
Maybe it's the same exact tree with a new name ? . I'll be placing a camera infront of my DR deer pear the end of the month to see when they start dropping and if the deer eat them.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Looks like the new one is just the same as the old, but grafted.
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
Yeah, let us know how it turns out. The first crop on mine had pears about the size of a thumbnail. Since nothing ate it and I presume the last two years the blooms froze, it had me debating wanting to graft it over to another variety.
The Fishman
5 year old buck +
Chestnut Hill quit using the Dr. Deer Pear name back in 2021. Their old web site stated that the price of the tree included a $2 royalty fee that I assume they paid Dr. James Kroll who found and I think patented the tree. As you stated, the Trophy Pear that Chestnut Hill is currently selling has the exact same description as the Dr. Deer Pear that they used to sell. I think it is safe to assume that it is the same tree. Dr. Kroll opened up a nursery a few years ago that sells Dr. Deer Pears and that may be why Chestnut Hill no longer uses the name. He has a video discussing how he found the mother tree on his nursery web site.
Here is a photo of one of my Dr. Deer Pears that I planted in 2019. This is the first year that it has really produced pears. Late frosts always seem to get them.
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
You confirmed my suspicions that it's prone to frosts. Are those golf ball size Pears? I like the idea of smaller Pears that are harder for coons to run off with but seems to be unreliable with fruiting in my location.
The Fishman
5 year old buck +
That photo was from early July so they are a little smaller than golf balls in the photo. The few pears that have developed since planting were a little larger than golf balls around Thanksgiving. I am not sure exactly when they fell off the tree. I thought last year was going to be the first year these trees really produced, but we had a warm February followed by a couple of nights of mid 20s in late March. The freeze damaged quite a few trees of various species that were budded out and growing.
TonySoprano
5 year old buck +
Can't really blame the tree, arent all pears prone to late frosts ?.
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
I haven't monitored blooming on all of them but it seems to bloom about a week or two earlier than most other pears.
TonySoprano
5 year old buck +
Dr Dud ? I noticed my Dr Deer pear started dropping the last week of Sept , I was under the impression it was a Nov - Dec Drop time.
I guess it cant hurt to have something dropping in my plot at this time, however the deer on my video are just walking past the pears on the ground. There are a lot of half eaten pears , maybe squirrles or coons ? BUT I didn't see any on video , so it's a mysrery lol. This is the first year for a sizeable crop , maybe they haven't noticed or the Acorns in the woods are their preference at this tiime .
I guess it cant hurt to have something dropping in my plot at this time, however the deer on my video are just walking past the pears on the ground. There are a lot of half eaten pears , maybe squirrles or coons ? BUT I didn't see any on video , so it's a mysrery lol. This is the first year for a sizeable crop , maybe they haven't noticed or the Acorns in the woods are their preference at this tiime .
b116757
5 year old buck +
I have a Dr Deer, Gate and McKelvey all grafted to a couple larger trees in my home orchard none have fruited yet I’m hopeful maybe next year I’ll see fruit. Growth of the McKelvey has been impressive is grafted to a cultivar that’s on dwarfing rootstock and seems to be outgrowing what it’s grafted to certainly it’s more vigorous for sure.
