Crabapple timeline

[rocksnstumps]

I like the spacing of your spruce trees. Good spots for deer to lay in those sunny gaps while out of the wind. Franklin looks good.

Surprisingly the deer seem to bed more in the nearby logged hardwoods which has a bunch of brush filling back in. But agree they like some sun. Their bedding also is much closer to the neighbors snow covered fields. Or maybe the brush is food and bedding. Have seen beds tucked up under spruce after major storms however.

 

[homerj]

Have a couple prairie fire from a nursery. Must be on semi something rootstock

Prairie Fire is a natural semi dwarf

 

[Tree Spud]

Nice sunny day yesterday for a change so did a bit of snowshoeing and checked on things. Franklin cider only that still had fruit besides the tiny bird crabs (typically red splendor). 1/2 doz fell down when shaking a branch.

The EMS crab was completely bare. It had an off year with only limited fruit on top third so not much to offer from the start. This tree has persistent fruit that rarely fall even into later winter. It is a full size tree so expect with the warm Jan we just had the critters like coons and possums were more active and cleaned it out along with the birds. Saw a possum way high in it last winter during a sunny day.

Franklin tree
View attachment 49371

Rocks ... what diameter cage do you go with?

 

[rocksnstumps]

These days I try to stick with 3.5 closer to 4 ft dia cages especially with something like the concrete remesh. In the past have gone smaller and with those bigger 6 in square openings lost a few tops of young trees to assume smaller deer that could poke head thru and reach in.

I have mostly gone back to 2 x4 mesh fencing and can cheat the dia down a bit without losing the tops. Also find that when recycling later to just a narrow cage for a rub guard that 2x4 wire being a lighter gauge is easier to shape with those small diameters. I'm talking about moving stuff to oak trees after they outgrow tubes and apples too.

 

[sandbur]

 

[sandbur]

View attachment 50023View attachment 50023

Sorry about the double pictures. A phone upgrade requires more training of an old fart!

Linda Sweet appears to be late hanging.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Shook a few more Franklin cider off a tree today as well but the recent warm spell and rain did a number on our snow. Deer are hitting the green rye being exposed and getting out into the neighbors picked bean field that is now mostly without snow.

Should be a good relief for the local herd

 

[sandbur]

This flowering crab was used by turkeys, deer during the night, and grouse in the early morning, all in less than 24 hours. Two other pictures to follow.

 

[sandbur]

View attachment 50739
This flowering crab was used by turkeys, deer during the night, and grouse in the early morning, all in less than 24 hours. Two other pictures to follow.

Lots of deer sign under the tree at daybreak.

 

[sandbur]

View attachment 50740
Lots of deer sign under the tree at daybreak.

View attachment 50740
Lots of deer sign under the tree at daybreak.

Two partridge(grouse) in the tree just a bit later.

 

[bigboreblr]

Rocksnstumps,

You got a picture of that franklin cider tree. Just planted one over the weekend from stark nurseries.

Earned my keep tonight, put my Willis orhcards order in the ground. Bartlet pear and a granny smith apple. Everything was in agrigel, but the pear trees looked dry. Bought 2 bartlets, one is for a coworker. Gave him the nicer one, smaller with more roots. Not very hopeful for the pear, but they warranty it.

With the willis order I had trascendent, dolgo, american crabapple, wild apple, and a wild pear or two. About 20 little guys, there things are too thin to graft, they're gonna need a year before they're ready.

Earned my keep tonight, 36 deg F steady rain. Got them all in though..... Also, dug up a antonovka bareroot I planted last year and double cleft grafted trailman onto it. see if it takes or not. Put it in a root forming pot too.

 

[sandbur]

The Courthouse Crab is still holding and has a slow drop from the looks of the sidewalk. Years like this with snow over knee deep and even below zero temps make me wish I had 10 of theses bearing fruit.

Our deer are suffering and more storms are on the way.

 

[sandbur]

View attachment 51202
The Courthouse Crab is still holding and has a slow drop from the looks of the sidewalk. Years like this with snow over knee deep and even below zero temps make me wish I had 10 of theses bearing fruit.

Our deer are suffering and more storms are on the way.

Note the sidewalk.

 

[sandbur]

The rootball on this wild crab has provided some good rootstock.

 

[sandbur]

I dropped some popples today, for browse, and to give the red stemmed dolgo seedlings more sunlight.

 

[sandbur]

Yesterday I moved the last of my open pollinated seedlings out of the garden. We will see if I can stick to my line of thinking, but I decided last fall that I would plant no more apple seeds. At age 68, I probably won’t make it to see them fruit. You young guys will have to carry on.

I planted two Kerr seedlings, one chestnut crab, one Geneva crab, and three autumn blush seedlings.

The root structure of the Kerr seedlings resemble dolgo rootstock (dolgo is one parent of Kerr)I prefer this root structure over Anty on my soils and in my climate.

 

[sandbur]

Yesterday I moved the last of my open pollinated seedlings out of the garden. We will see if I can stick to my line of thinking, but I decided last fall that I would plant no more apple seeds. At age 68, I probably won’t make it to see them fruit. You young guys will have to carry on.

I planted two Kerr seedlings, one chestnut crab, one Geneva crab, and three autumn blush seedlings.

The root structure of the Kerr seedlings resemble dolgo rootstock (dolgo is one parent of Kerr)View attachment 52021I prefer this root structure over Anty on my soils and in my climate.

Autumn blush root structure looked good, too.The fastest growing seedling was From the Geneva crab. The slowest was the chestnut crab.We had a dry spell in the spring of 2022 and some seeds didn’t emerge very well.

 

[sandbur]

This spring I did plant a few more trees but am running out of room. My old Grandma’s seedling( heirloom variety ) was girdles and a friend custom grafted some of those. I also planted No Bull from Midwest Deer Trees. That tree held fruit late this year and I wish I had several of those as it was such a tough winter. I also added another chestnut crab and a Spunk Lake Crab from Midwest Deer Trees. Luke likes the flavor of Spunk Lake Crab.

 

[sandbur]

This spring I did plant a few more trees but am running out of room. My old Grandma’s seedling( heirloom variety ) was girdles and a friend custom grafted some of those. I also planted No Bull from Midwest Deer Trees. That tree held fruit late this year and I wish I had several of those as it was such a tough winter. I also added another chestnut crab and a Spunk Lake Crab from Midwest Deer Trees. Luke likes the flavor of Spunk Lake Crab.

I meant ‘girdled’ not ‘girdles’

 

[gunfun13]

In 20017 I planted 8 Morse Double Red Crab seedlings that were probably 8". The parent tree is red fleshed. They're 50/50 red/green leaves. My best grower, a green leaf, is now about about 15' tall and fruited for the first time last year. About 4 golf ball sized crabs...but they were out of reach and I never checked the flesh. Looks like this year I might have fruit for the first time on 2 of the red leafed trees. Hope they're something interesting and worthwhile.

Interestingly the same year I planted a 3yo Dolgo Seedling for Morse that was at least 7' tall. It's now ~10' and has yet to throw a single flower. So much for trying to speed up fruit production by buying larger trees