Just like with car mechanics, you better know who you are dealing with. I bought my first fruit
trees from Franks Nursery
15 years ago, and they all came out as specified. Now I generally deal with mail order companies
who ship small grafted
whips. Even these people are not all reliable, a good indication is asking them what rootstock the
tree is planted on.
If they can't tell you, the warning buzzers should go off.

I'm surprised you went back to the same nursery for Seckel Pears, after your experience with the
Navel Oranges.

Your suggestion about grafting your own trees is basically good, but how many people know how to
graft, and how sure
can you be that the scion is what you think it is. Again, there are reputable companies out there
who you can depend on
for sending the correct scion.

Your last suggestion for a 5 in 1 apple tree is not a good one from my experience. These kinds of
trees I have found to
be weak and die rather quickly.

By the way, the biggest effect of a rootstock is on the size of the tree, and in some cases its
productivity, not the taste
of the apples on it.

Sherwin D.

"Pseud O. Nym" wrote:

sherwindu wrote in
:

You can buy a small tree for as little as 15 to 20 dollars and you
then know exactly what variety you have.

++++++++++++

I am sorry but I have to 100% disagree with this point.

About a dozen years ago, I bought a Navel orange tree to plant in my back
yard. I was over-joyed with the delicious oranges that it produced the
very first year so I decided to plant two more Navel orange trees.

I went to the nursery and checked the stock of citrus trees. Each plant
had a label glued onto the pot which declared it to be a Navel orange.
Each plant also had a plastic strip wrapped around the trunk saying
"Navel Orange" and each plant had a large tag hanging from it with a
photograph and planting instructions and specifications and "Navel
Orange" declared in large letters. I picked out the two best looking ones
and planted them.

As soon as they produced fruit I knew something was not right. None of
the fruit had navels (Belly Buttons) on them. I watched with interest to
see what the ripe fruit would be like when they ripened. One of the trees
turned out to be a "Blood Orange". The fruit is small .... just a little
bigger than a lemon although it is more spherical in shape than a lemon
with juice that is bright red in color. It is tasty but not worth the
trouble to eat. The tree is still in my back yard but only because I have
not gotten around to digging it up and disposing of it. The other tree
was a dissapointment at first because it was not a Navel Orange but it
has turned out to be a real treasure. It produces large fruit which has
seeds and no Belly Button but it has a characteristic which makes it
highly desirable. The fruit ripens between Thanksgiving and Christmas and
it stays fresh and delicious hanging on the tree almost the entire year
long. I have no idea what type of Orange it is but I am very happy to
have it.

After this experience I wanted to plant a Seckel Pear. I told the owner
of the nursery about my experience with the Navel Oranges and asked, "Are
you sure that these trees are Seckel Pears?" He replied, "There is no way
to be sure. I had a special order for 200 Seckel pear trees. This is what
my supplier shipped to me but you can never know for sure".

Hello, more warning bells.

I do not
believe that what I got was a Seckel pear. The fruit does not look like
the photos of Seckel pears that I have seen but it is not a bad pear
either so I will not complain.

My conclusion is this. There is only one sure way to know what you are
getting. Plant a seedling for rootstock. Then take a scion from a known
tree of the desired type and graph it onto the rootstock. Even then the
rootstock selected could possibly have a effect on the finished product.
When it comes to apple trees you can buy a 5-in-1 at some nurseries. This
is a potted tree with 5 different varieties graphted onto a single
rootstock. Let it grow and in later years just prune off the parts that
you dont like.

Them's my thoughts,

PON