Crabapple timeline

[roth2000]

Believe it or not I've seen a few groups of Huns literally in the middle of Fargo. One was while going around the backside of the old Sportsmans Warehouse parking lot and the other was when I took the dog for a walk when we stayed in a hotel off of 45th Ave. should have seen the suprise on her face when she picked up the scent of game birds in the middle of town.

 

[sandbur]

These two seedlings should be outside of the exclosure .

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[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^ Are these pix the fenced-in thicket that you've posted before - or is this a different enclosure ?? Can't tell from this angle.

 

[sandbur]

^^^^ Are these pix the fenced-in thicket that you've posted before - or is this a different enclosure ?? Can't tell from this angle.

They are in one of the fenced in areas. I cut some of the trees back and tried to topwork them a few years ago.


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[cavey]

Started running around getting scions from late hanging wild crabs and apple trees... There are still a bunch of trees out there with fruit slowly dropping even this late.

 

[sandbur]

Started running around getting scions from late hanging wild crabs and apple trees... There are still a bunch of trees out there with fruit slowly dropping even this late.

How big are those crabs?

Deer work any crabs over about 1/2 or 3/4 inch here.


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[sandbur]

Started running around getting scions from late hanging wild crabs and apple trees... There are still a bunch of trees out there with fruit slowly dropping even this late.

That looks like a good crossing with the fence down.


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[Bowsnbucks]

Nice crabs trees, Cavey. I wish I could drive down the road and find crabs like the ones you guys have up there. All we have around here is old regular apple trees - and they don't hold fruit like the crabs. Good luck grafting those to keep the crab "bloodlines" going.

 

[Mortenson]

Does anyone know of a resource showing bloom times of some of these more popular crabs? As a general rule, can you say that crabs can handle a late spring frost better than apples, or is that totally not true? If one of my three orchards is more likely in a frost pocket than the other two, I'm wondering if I should finish it out with crabs and save the regular apples for the better two sites. Or do I need to figure it out on a tree by tree case?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I wish I could answer that for you, Mortenson. My own experience with crabs is that they seem to put on fruit every year, and our camp gets late frosts. Whether one variety is more resistant to late frosts than another - I can't prove. I don't have sufficient years of experience at this to offer a solid answer. Having said that, if I were to place a bet on whether to plant a crab or a regular apple in a possible frost pocket - I'd bet on the crab to survive and fruit, based on what I've seen so far at camp.

 

[cavey]

How big are those crabs?
Deer work any crabs over about 1/2 or 3/4 inch here.
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1" to 1 1/2" ish they are about the perfect size .. the deer had been circling the tree prior to the last few deep snows.. bunnies where in under it now. We are getting rain now so the snow is getting pushed down... I have a solid dozen or better trees to take scion from - couple land owners to talk with but so far everyone has been receptive. I have a handful of wild apples too which is pretty cool on the target list.

 

[cavey]

a loaded crab

 

[cavey]

Then my favorite one I found was a tree with pea sized crabs - looked almost ornamental. The deer where still visiting it though - good turkey crab. There was a cluster of wild crabs 6-7 trees down in an old pasture with a couple of the trees having these little tiny crabs-peas. The scion is pretty small dia but Im going to give it a shot for fun.

Pic makes them look bigger than what they are most were pea sized a few like small marbles

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Even the tiny crabs serve a purpose. If they help birds survive the winter, those same birds may eat the bad bugs in your orchards as things warm up.

 

[sandbur]

Even the tiny crabs serve a purpose. If they help birds survive the winter, those same birds may eat the bad bugs in your orchards as things warm up.

Robins are back and we’re in the bird crabs.

Deer are looking for windfalls under the larger crabs.

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[4wanderingeyes]

Bur, just an estimate, how many trees do you have, and what percentage is the crabs?

 

[sandbur]

Bur, just an estimate, how many trees do you have, and what percentage is the crabs?

At one time, I had about 200 trees. Some have died, some have been replaced, and some I forgot about or forgot where they came from.
I grew apples from seeds for about 4 years, plus just a small number from seeds the last few years.
If we use the two inch apple size as a definition of apple versus crab, I would say 15% are apples.

My wife’s Grandma gave me some seedlings over thirty years ago and told me how she started them.
Last weekend, my mother in law said she has a package of apple seeds from Grandma. Grandma has been gone over ten years. Are the seeds still good?


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[sandbur]

A few are looking for apples, most are on the disked corn field.

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[4wanderingeyes]

It’s good to see the snow melted!

 

[sandbur]

It’s good to see the snow melted!

You betcha. I put the snowshoes away.


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