Biennial Crabs

[greyphase]

I noticed this year that my Winter Wildlife Crab has went biennial. It's always been a reliable producer but this spring has put out only a couple of flowers. Last year my Viola crab was nearly fruitless but this spring is loaded with flowers. Anyone else noticing their crabs going biennial?

 

[sandbur]

Many of my crabs go that way and even the apples.

You are more experienced than me, but pruning and some fertilization can change it just a bit.

One of my Kerr produced for two years and then rested last year. The other Kerr just finished producing for the second year and we will see what happens. Chestnut, Buckman, dolgo, And Big Dog tend to have a heavy crop and then a light producing year. Probably Centennial , also , if my memory is correct.

Trailman and Golden Hornet have produced for three years in a row for me.

I don’t thin fruit on crabs. Thinning might make a difference.

Frost during bloom or very cold winter that kills fruit Spurs really throws them into this cycle.

I have my apples in several different locations. Slight south slope, slight north slope, and it seems like this allows me to get some fruit in most years. These locations have slightly different wake up times and winter stresses.

Our wild crabs follow the every other year pattern.


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[sandbur]

On further thought, Zestar, Hazen, RedBaron, Haralson, and Haralred tend to follow the every other year pattern.

My twenty plus year old trees seemed to come through the cold winter of 18-19 with good crops. Many younger trees took the year off.


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[gunfun13]

Is there a good way to thin crabs besides manually picking off flowers and young fruit?

 

[woodduck]

Is there a good way to thin crabs besides manually picking off flowers and young fruit?

Guys spray there apple trees with Sevin to thin. I don't know if it would work on crabs or not.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I've seen the biennial-bearing on some of our older, un-named crabs, but haven't noticed it yet on our newer (2013 - 2019) trees yet. The older crabs were purchased from a Pa. Game Commission seedling sale years ago. They get 1 1/2" to 2" crabs on them. We don't thin them.

So far, our Winter Wildlife crabs have put on fruit every year, but they're still young trees. Time will tell what they do going forward. Violi's has been iffy on producing, but it isn't in a prime spot. All Winter Hangover crab (SLN) seems to produce every year so far, and so has Nova Scotia crab (Morse, 2013). Centennial seems to produce every year, but I think the crows or coons get them even before I can eat one. We had 2 Trailman crabs - one died last year with NO visible damage/disease(?), and the other one is too young to bear yet. The older Trailman was a good producer each year.

FWIW - last spring I planted a Sugar Tyme crab in our back yard, and it was covered in white blossoms. This spring, there are only 4 blossoms on it - but we had some REALLY crazy temperature swings, going from 72 down to below freezing a couple times. We also had pea-sized hail, very high winds, and loads of rain. Sugar Tyme is a very highly rated heavy bloomer/producer with great DR. It's a bird crab/ornamental. I'm wondering if this spring's wacky weather has had an effect on buds & blooming. Our Profusion crab in the side yard is coated in reddish-purple blossoms. ???

 

[sandbur]

I've seen the biennial-bearing on some of our older, un-named crabs, but haven't noticed it yet on our newer (2013 - 2019) trees yet. The older crabs were purchased from a Pa. Game Commission seedling sale years ago. They get 1 1/2" to 2" crabs on them. We don't thin them.

So far, our Winter Wildlife crabs have put on fruit every year, but they're still young trees. Time will tell what they do going forward. Violi's has been iffy on producing, but it isn't in a prime spot. All Winter Hangover crab (SLN) seems to produce every year so far, and so has Nova Scotia crab (Morse, 2013). Centennial seems to produce every year, but I think the crows or coons get them even before I can eat one. We had 2 Trailman crabs - one died last year with NO visible damage/disease(?), and the other one is too young to bear yet. The older Trailman was a good producer each year.

FWIW - last spring I planted a Sugar Tyme crab in our back yard, and it was covered in white blossoms. This spring, there are only 4 blossoms on it - but we had some REALLY crazy temperature swings, going from 72 down to below freezing a couple times. We also had pea-sized hail, very high winds, and loads of rain. Sugar Tyme is a very highly rated heavy bloomer/producer with great DR. It's a bird crab/ornamental. I'm wondering if this spring's wacky weather has had an effect on buds & blooming. Our Profusion crab in the side yard is coated in reddish-purple blossoms. ???

Climate/ weather might be the key for many of these crabs and apples.


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