Crabapple Varieties & guys' comments / input

[sandbur]

Stu - You and Art have grown crabs from seeds before. Do you think they'll be similar to the parent, or is it a total crapshoot ?? I know regular apples don't work that way.

I do not have access to my pictures for the next 48 hours or so, but one of these threads has pictures of trees with fruit from the same seed collection. It's either this thread or the Sandbox, I would guess.

Considerable variation is the answer.

 

[sandbur]

I do not have access to my pictures for the next 48 hours or so, but one of these threads has pictures of trees with fruit from the same seed collection. It's either this thread or the Sandbox, I would guess.

Considerable variation is the answer.

Posts 21, 22, and 24 on this thread.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks for the picture direction above, Bur. ^^^^ Those are all great looking crabs even if there is some variation. If you can get those kinds of crabs from wild seed, I'm gonna start looking for them. I'd be tickled to death if some came to look like the ones in your pix !! Perfect size for deer.

 

[sandbur]

Three different crabs for size comparison. I thought the seedling crab was sweet, my daughter disagreed with me. Still edible anyway.

 

[sandbur]

I attempted to make some crab apple liqueur from the above three crab apples and two other varieties of smaller crabs.

Experiment in progress...

 

[sandbur]

Yeah, but you think Dolgos are tasty too :p

You got to be tough when you grow up in the north country.
Yup, I like the dolgos and they were the only apple we had as a kid except for purchased apples.

 

[deepsleep]

A couple photos. First is Chestnut Crabs and a couple Centennial for size comparison. Plums are Stanley Prune-Plums.



This next photo is Violi's from SLN. Still hanging tight. A bit larger than I expected and actually a little bigger than the Chestnuts. When I get up there next week I'll have to take a tape measure to them. Pushing the limits of "crab" status. Also, not sure when these actually ripen but will take a bite in a few more days.

 

[sandbur]

I have not tasted a centennial but have one in the ground.

I also have a violi's in the ground. Just a bit of CAR on it?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I can tell you Centennial is a real nice tasting crab !! I ate 2 and cut one in half for my sons to try and they both liked it. No Violi's tried yet, but I have one planted.

Nice pix of the fruit and the Violi's tree. It looks pretty healthy with very little spotting on a couple leaves. Good tree, Deepsleep !! Thanks for sharing the pix.

 

[Rally1148]

You guys are really making me find more room for trees!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Rally - Once you get started with these fruit trees - it's tough to put the brakes on !! A couple years ago I figured planting 8 or 10 apples & crabs would be good enough at camp. We're up to 50 trees now !!! And 14 trees ordered for spring 2016 and 3 rootstocks growing in pots to plant this fall !!

 

[sandbur]

Wis. bow season opened last Saturday. Mn. opens thus Saturday.
Every early season bow hunter should have a chestnut crab in the ground.

Apples on the ground and also still hanging on the opener.

 

[sandbur]

Trees grown from seed collected in 2008 from the same wild tree.
View attachment 6731 View attachment 6731 View attachment 6732

This one is no longer yellow.

 

[chickenlittle]

For those growing from seed, I came across a couple references that linked the time until an apple seed germinated to that seedling's bloomtime. Later seeds to germinate are likely to flower later. I've read that trees that lead out later should flower later and that makes sense to me. It was not clear to me how much data there is to back up the link to germination.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Those pix are a great sight, Bur. You must be enjoying those Chestnut crabapples. One of the other guys posted that they're your favorites.

 

[sandbur]

Those pix are a great sight, Bur. You must be enjoying those Chestnut crabapples. One of the other guys posted that they're your favorites.

I will add that the Chestnut crabs on the gentle north slope are just a bit later to bloom and to drop apples. There is nothing wrong with planting on a north slope,a s long as they can get enough sun and are hardy.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Good to know, Bur. We have a gentle north sloping field at camp. Already 5 apples & crabs planted there between the pines in the sunny openings.

 

[sandbur]

Good to know, Bur. We have a gentle north sloping field at camp. Already 5 apples & crabs planted there between the pines in the sunny openings.

Don't let the pines crowd out the sunshine.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We won't let that happen. In fact, this early spring we cut down 3 pine trees of about 20 ft. tall to allow more sun to the apple trees. The pines we allow to grow are in the seedling to 7 or 8 ft. class. The deer like to meander thru them on the way to the food plots, rubbing the smaller pines along the way and making a few scrapes in the security of those smaller pines. There's plenty of opening for sun to hit the 5 apple trees in that area. We have no shortage of pine seedlings ( natural ones ) so we can " use " them to a size we deem too big and then whack 'em down. Lots of open area around the apple trees.

The apples and crabs that are planted in that area are : Dolgo, Hyslop, & Winter Wildlife crabs, 1 Enterprise and 1 wild apple seedling from SLN that is now 8 ft. tall and it has excellent branch structure. I can't wait to see what THAT thing turns out to be !! It may have it's first fruit next year.

 

[sandbur]

I consider my place to be Zone 3B. Some of the new maps show 4A, but we have hit -44 or so and most winters hit -35.

I have two old crab apples on my place.
Dolgo on ant. that has been in place for 27 years. Dolgo tends to drop it's apples all at once and that will be sometime between now and Labor Day. Disease free, hardy, and it makes great apple sauce and jelly.

I have a chestnut crab on an unknown rootstock, but it is shorter than the dolgo on ant. It has no major disease problems and drops apples over a 3-4 week period that usually runs almost to Oct. 1. It also makes great applesauce and the flavor changes from early ripening to late ripening. By far my favorite apple.View attachment 6718


I have 3 other chestnuts that are over 15 years old and another 8-10 that are younger. There is a tree well up into USDA zone 3 and it is doing fine after about 20 years or so.

My last few chestnut crabs have pink flesh under the skin and the flavor is quite different than those that first drop.

The crab I have decided to call Big Dog is starting to drop apples. I think Turkey Creek might have a few of these and I will have lots of scion from water sprouts. It's a very hard crab and I will call it inedible as far as humans are concerned. All of my apples are ripening about 2 weeks ahead of most years. Big Dog has held apples well into the winter in other years. At least to Feb. and the deer used it in Nov., Dec, and on into winter.