Crabapple timeline

[sandbur]

Sanbur, I am in approximately the same climate you are in, just east about a hundred mile. What would you recommend for a tree that will hold into December, that is actually available to purchase somewhere? I am placing a few tree orders to places that are taking orders now, and would like to get a few more trees the will produce well, and drop late November early December. I ask you, because of all of the awesome pictures you post of the several trees you have still holding apples.

Blue Hills has sold out.

Kerr and Golden Hornet hold later and into winter. If you buy a Kerr crab, get it on a full size rootstock and strip all of the blossoms off of it for a few years to try and get some size on the tree before fruiting.

You might see if Turkey Creek has any Yellow Dog left. It gets scab, but still produces fruit.


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[DrDirtNap]

Still a winner.


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Really looks nice Sandbur! After producing fruit for the fist time last season, my Buckman didn’t fruit this year. Is Buckman an annual producer for you?

 

[sandbur]

Really looks nice Sandbur! After producing fruit for the fist time last season, my Buckman didn’t fruit this year. Is Buckman an annual producer for you?

It seems to skip a year for me. I get some fruit with pruning on ‘off years.’

Off years produce the best scion.

I have my Big Dog and Buckman on several different locations. Slight north and slight south slopes. Usually I get some Big Dog crabs in one location or the other. My Older Buckman crab is the only one producing at this point, but new top works are scattered in other locations.

Gather some scion and share it. I chose to not patent and not put a royalty on those trees.

I do think I trimmed too much scion one year and limited fruit production the next year.


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[Tree Spud]

Perhaps this one deserves a name.


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Sandbur, Blue Hills has wild crab seedlings. Did you source from them?

 

[sandbur]

Sandbur, Blue Hills has wild crab seedlings. Did you source from them?

No, I have not. I have grown this tree and others from seed I collected.


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[Tree Spud]

No, I have not. I have grown this tree and others from seed I collected.


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Nice looking tree.

 

[Chainsaw]

Perhaps this one deserves a name.


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[sandbur]

Perhaps this one deserves a name.


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Today, I looked at the tag on the cage. The seed was collected from a wild crab growing along a river. Someone asked how long from seed to fruit. I collected the seed and planted it the fall of 2008. It seems like I was using containers then and it grew for the year of 2009 in the root bag. It was planted in this location in the spring of 2010. It has fruit for at least three years per my memory. I have several sister trees also fruiting.

The last few years I have been planting seed in the garden instead of containers.


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[trampledbyturtles]

Hey Art, wondering what your 2 favorite late hanging crabs are? Not intended to hunt over. Thinking long cold deep snow winter, survival food/treat.

 

[sandbur]

Hey Art, wondering what your 2 favorite late hanging crabs are? Not intended to hunt over. Thinking long cold deep snow winter, survival food/treat.

That would be Buckman and Big Dog. Allow me 3 trees and I would add Yellow Dog, but you have to ignore the scab on the tree.

I think Golden Hornet would be a runner up, but you might need to shake the tree once in awhile. Kerr Crab is also a runner up if you can find a rootstock and a way to get it to a larger size.


Courthouse Crab is another possibility, but it has not fruited yet at my location. It does well by the courthouse.

I also have some crabs from Quicky Trees that I put in the ground this fall. He has some interesting varieties. Many of these are wild varieties from a location just slightly warmer than me. I would say zone 4A. I touch on 3B per some winters. I need to review the drop times on these trees.

My answer is like a politicians. Ask a simple question and you get a lengthy answer with seven different options.

Sorry!


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[TreeDaddy]

Or a beekeeper

bill

 

[chummer]

I have said it many times if I could only plant one named tree it would be Kerr. Awesome deer apple, zone 3, no disease, and drops over 3 months.

 

[sandbur]

I have said it many times if I could only plant one named tree it would be Kerr. Awesome deer apple, zone 3, no disease, and drops over 3 months.

How tall is your tree and what rootstock is it on?


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[chummer]

How tall is your tree and what rootstock is it on?


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I will have to check the tag. It is b.118 or p.18. They are in the 12' range planted 2014 ish. The one in full sun was loaded this year to the point I had to remove half the apples in August. The other 2 don't get full sun and are lagging behind but still doing well. That will be fixed this winter. I have one growing in the woods that is probably 20' tall but limited branches. It is a cool experiment as it only gets a few hours of sun. I can drop three maples and get it full sun. My theory is it will explode with growth and I will have a very tall tree in a killer location.

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[sandbur]

I will have to check the tag. It is b.118 or p.18. They are in the 12' range planted 2014 ish. The one in full sun was loaded this year to the point I had to remove half the apples in August. The other 2 don't get full sun and are lagging behind but still doing well. That will be fixed this winter. I have one growing in the woods that is probably 20' tall but limited branches. It is a cool experiment as it only gets a few hours of sun. I can drop three maples and get it full sun. My theory is it will explode with growth and I will have a very tall tree in a killer location.

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I need to check when mine were planted. Maybe keeping the fruit off is part of the key to taller growth.


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[sandbur]

That would be Buckman and Big Dog. Allow me 3 trees and I would add Yellow Dog, but you have to ignore the scab on the tree.

I think Golden Hornet would be a runner up, but you might need to shake the tree once in awhile. Kerr Crab is also a runner up if you can find a rootstock and a way to get it to a larger size.


Courthouse Crab is another possibility, but it has not fruited yet at my location. It does well by the courthouse.

I also have some crabs from Quicky Trees that I put in the ground this fall. He has some interesting varieties. Many of these are wild varieties from a location just slightly warmer than me. I would say zone 4A. I touch on 3B per some winters. I need to review the drop times on these trees.

My answer is like a politicians. Ask a simple question and you get a lengthy answer with seven different options.

Sorry!


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Here is the Courthouse Crab as of today. There are some apples on the ground and a lot on the tree. It is a rootstock of some sort.


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[Bowsnbucks]

Here is the Courthouse Crab as of today. There are some apples on the ground and a lot on the tree. It is a rootstock of some sort.

Did you get scion from that tree & graft some?? I remember you posted that tree's pic a few years ago - can't remember if you have starts of it.

 

[sandbur]

Did you get scion from that tree & graft some?? I remember you posted that tree's pic a few years ago - can't remember if you have starts of it.

Yup. I bench grafted onto dolgo rootstock and the tree must be6-7 foot.


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[chummer]

Here are two of my Kerr. The first one is in a great spot with my best soil. It is about 12'tall, planted 2014 on B.118. The second is about 16' tall with only a few hours of sun. I fixed that today. I knocked the last few apples of the first and another today.

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[Bowsnbucks]

The second is about 16' tall with only a few hours of sun. I fixed that today.

Was the taller Kerr shaded for much of the day previously? We have 2 younger apple trees (planted spring of 2013) that HAD a lot of shade, but have since been opened up. They look like your 16 ft. Kerr - tall, skinny, and without many branches - probably trying to reach up to more sunlight??? I'm going to try a few pruning cuts to try to stimulate more branching on ours. Your pic and your comment about "fixing that" by cutting more surrounding trees made me see the similarities in their situations. Our 2 apple trees look exactly like your 16 ft. Kerr pic. Now I'm anxious to prune and fertilize them.

Your other Kerr looks great.