My question is will seedlings from a self fruitful tree possibly come close to the parent if it isn’t cross pollinated? I havent had much luck germinating pear seeds.
If I have a homerun(s) in this deer-dirt game it is with my seedling pears.
I have found a 'mother' tree from which I gather seeds.
It is in a farmer's yard about 4 miles away. I have watched it for 30yrs. I have grafted scions from the mother.
The grafts do fine. Produce fruit just like Mom....size, hang time, production. All good.
But, but it is the seeds from it that are giving me the most satisfaction.
I collect from drops in early November, stratify outdoors in my nursery, and sow in prepared soil in pots in my nursery.
And those seedlings are vigorous and grow vertically strongly and quickly.
I'm getting fruit in about 6 or 7 years.
It is a fruit that is sized between a quarter & a .50 cent piece. (tho I have one specimen that all the fruits are a hair bigger than .50 cent size....let's say .62 cent-wise).
And...it gets better. The trees are prolific, produce a lot of these smallish fruits, and they hang and hang and hang.
They are magnets for deer. I use those trees for my camera traps.
So, these days my effort in propagation -- and space in my caged nursery -- is for those seedling pears and the seedling crabs from a favored 'mother' tree.