Crabapple Varieties & guys' comments / input

[sandbur]

It shows signs of CAR, but it does not seem to hurt the tree. Lots of water sprouts that I hope to reach for scion.

 

[Rally1148]

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.
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They're hard, but if you cut them are they tasty? Or still just way to hard to eat?

 

[sandbur]

They're hard, but if you cut them are they tasty? Or still just way to hard to eat?

Not really tasty at all, and I like most crab apples. Strictly for the deer.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Gonna bump this up. I tried 2 Hyslop crabapples at camp and found them to be really dry. They LOOK delicious - dark red, about 1 1/2" in dia. But that's where it ended. I suppose deer and other critters would eat them, but it's not a good eater in my book. They DO make a good pollinator according to ACN, who sells them for that purpose.

To anyone with wild crabapples - are any of your " wild " ones good eaters ?? ( I read what Bur said about his " big dog " crab above ) I know some of you guys swap scion and was wondering what you've found with them.

 

[Powder]

Am I too late to find seeds? I'm interested in starting some trees from scratch but I'm not sure where to get seeds from. Any one have a suggestion on where to order them from? I need zone 3 or 4.

 

[Rally1148]

Gonna bump this up. I tried 2 Hyslop crabapples at camp and found them to be really dry. They LOOK delicious - dark red, about 1 1/2" in dia. But that's where it ended. I suppose deer and other critters would eat them, but it's not a good eater in my book. They DO make a good pollinator according to ACN, who sells them for that purpose.

To anyone with wild crabapples - are any of your " wild " ones good eaters ?? ( I read what Bur said about his " big dog " crab above ) I know some of you guys swap scion and was wondering what you've found with them.

This is my only wild tree that had apples this year. Lots of blossoms, but I think blight and bugs got to them early, causing them to drop. Either way..I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Along with the apples still hanging, the flavor was amazing. A bit astringent for a normal eating apple, but it was also incredibly sweet. The flavor was partially that of a sour granny smith, and partially sweet. Definitely a flavor bomb. I'd think that it'd make a great cider apple. Low in tannins, but other than that it seems great! Plenty of russeting, and lots of color.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I don't think I commented on this before, but I could be mistaken. I tried a couple All-Winter-Hangover crabapples and they are very tasty too. Sweet with a little tartness and slightly astringent. My wife tried one and thought it was pretty tasty as well. Anyone else tried an AWH crab ?? Opinions ?? As of 11-1-15 there are still 18 AWH on the tree and I've picked about 8 before that for sampling.

 

[greyphase]

I don't think I commented on this before, but I could be mistaken. I tried a couple All-Winter-Hangover crabapples and they are very tasty too. Sweet with a little tartness and slightly astringent. My wife tried one and thought it was pretty tasty as well. Anyone else tried an AWH crab ?? Opinions ?? As of 11-1-15 there are still 18 AWH on the tree and I've picked about 8 before that for sampling.

I've munched in a couple of my All Winter Hangover's and found them to be surprising tasty too.

 

[greyphase]

This is my Golden Hornet crabapple last week. Planted in 2014 on G202 rootstock in my home orchard it was covered with apples this spring but I pulled most of them off. The ones I left on are still holding tight with the birds starting to work on them.

I'll have scion from this tree this winter if anyone wants any.

 

[sandbur]

Not really tasty at all, and I like most crab apples. Strictly for the deer.

I have eaten a few of these this year and they do not taste too bad. Maybe they are fully ripe for a change.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

On the way back from a Drs. appt. this afternoon, I spotted an apple or crab tree loaded with dark red apples about 2" in dia. It's an OLD tree on an old farmstead. I stopped to ask if I could pick one to try and if I could come back in March to snip a few pieces of scion - but nobody around. I'll definitely be going back there to ask permission. The tree is hanging-drooping with the apple load. There are some on the ground of varying time spent there, so it's a late dropper for sure. After several frosts and it being the first week of November, it probably will have apples until the end of the month. Happy I spotted it !! Lucky timing.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Update on our All-Winter-Hangover crabapples at camp. As of 11-22-2015 they were still hanging in very good shape. 1 1/2" dia. and great red color. Firm to the squeeze. Hyslop crab still had 3 hanging on it, but very dry and mealy. Several un-named crabs with fruit from pea-sized to 5/8" dia. are still loaded. Grouse, turkeys and various birds will use them over winter.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As of 12-13-15 the All-Winter-Hangover crab still has 16 crabapples hanging. They feel as if they are just starting to soften a bit - not quite as hard to the touch.

 

[Rally1148]

As of 12-13-15 the All-Winter-Hangover crab still has 16 crabapples hanging. They feel as if they are just starting to soften a bit - not quite as hard to the touch.

Have they been dropping gradually?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

It dropped 2 in the last 3 weeks. 18 before - now 16 left on tree. It's only in the ground for 3 years and it had about 50 apples on it at the 2nd week of Sept. I picked some to sample and snipped others off to avoid limb breakage. For the 3rd year, I was really impressed. The tree is now about 11 ft. tall and has a caliper of around 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" dia. It was a 4 ft. whip when planted in the spring of 2013.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Question for Sandbur - Did you ever get some of those scion from GRIN like Wetonka and those other northern crabs ?? If so - how are they doing ??

 

[sandbur]

My order got mixed up. I have hopes for this spring.

I thought Lee might have got some.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Update on the AWH crab - 10 more apples are gone, leaving 6. From the looks of it, I think coons may have found this tree. No damage limb-wise, but a partially eaten apple on the ground has small teeth marks in it like a coon would make. It doesn't look like deer teeth marks at all. If coons found them, they'll all be gone before we get cold weather. It's 72 degrees here today !!!!!!!! Hoping trees don't start to bud with this warmth. :(

 

[rocksnstumps]

These guys are hanging tough and have gotten more red after hanging all fall. They are more of a yellow color before winter. The deer have picked off the bottom branches but these are not really all that preferred by most wildlife during mild winters. The birds leave them alone except at the end of a hard winter than they get cleaned off when times are really rough. So they have a purpose for those times.

 

[sandbur]

These guys are hanging tough and have gotten more red after hanging all fall. They are more of a yellow color before winter. The deer have picked off the bottom branches but these are not really all that preferred by most wildlife during mild winters. The birds leave them alone except at the end of a hard winter than they get cleaned off when times are really rough. So they have a purpose for those times.

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That looks a lot like some of Morse's bunches crabs. Some have apples that size and some are strictly bird crabs.