Performance of the pear (Pyrus communis) cultivar William's Bon Chretien grafted on seven rootstocks

The performance of the pear (Pyrus communis L.) cv. William’s Bon Chretien (William’s BC) grafted on 7 rootstocks was evaluated over a period of 8 years. The scions of the cultivar William’s BC were grafted on the following 7 rootstocks: (i) P. communis seedlings, (ii) quince BA 29, (iii) quince A, (iv) Pomology Institute (PI) 1, (v) PI 5, (vi) PI 27, and (vii) quince Komotinis (iv–vii are Greek local quince seedlings). Compatibility of William’s BC with P. communis, PI 1 and PI 27 was excellent and no tree losses occurred. The highest yield per tree was recorded when William’s BC was grafted on PI 5 rootstock, although it was not significantly different from P. communis. The lowest yield was recorded when the cultivar was grafted on BA 29 rootstock. Production efficiency of William’s BC was highest when grafted on PI 27, intermediate on quince A, PI 1 and PI 5 and lowest on P. communis. Iron concentration of leaves of scions grafted on P. communis, BA 29, quince A and quince Komotinis were significantly lower than those grafted on PI 5. From the results it is concluded that the rootstocks PI 1 and PI 27 are suitable for the cv. William’s BC under Greek or other similar climatic conditions.