Crabapple Varieties & guys' comments / input
- Thread starter Bowsnbucks
- Start date
Got one in my neighborhood that looks pretty similar. Just noticed it last year, never knew it was an apple til the leaves fell and it still had fruit. Doesn't look like a "known" variety, looks like just a random crab in someone's yard but it is still holding apples and might be worth propagating. It doesn't look quite as nice as that Zumi, though!!!
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
That Zumi looks good, Jhoss. What are they - about 1" or so ??
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Same. ^^^^ Early on, I just try to get some good branch angles established with clothes pins. Then after a few years, I prune off branches lower than 6 ft. & let 'em grow.
Update - I was just at camp this past week for archery. Our Winter Wildlife crabs had 1" red apples hanging on them, as did our Nova Scotia crab ( more yellowish ) and a seedling crab that I planted about 6 years ago. The seedling has 1" red apples like the WW crab.
Update - I was just at camp this past week for archery. Our Winter Wildlife crabs had 1" red apples hanging on them, as did our Nova Scotia crab ( more yellowish ) and a seedling crab that I planted about 6 years ago. The seedling has 1" red apples like the WW crab.
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Boy - that's some good looking habitat you have there, Bur. The pic at post #329 - it looks like a place where you'd just expect a big bruiser would peek out of those spruce or the birches / aspens (?) on the right . That crab in the exclusion fence would be a hot spot for passing deer. Looks like a trail there in the pic.
Can't wait for our apples & crabs to have hanging crops like yours !!!
Can't wait for our apples & crabs to have hanging crops like yours !!!
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
An update on our crabs from post #1 in this thread - made in 2015.
We now have 4 Chestnut crabs, 3 All-Winter-Hangover crabs, and 3 Winter Wildlife crabs.
I'm ordering 1 more each of Chestnut and Winter Wildlife crabs for spring 2019. A bear knocked over a Hyslop crab & broke it off at the ground, so I'll plant a Chestnut crab there to replace it. It's in a good bow-hunting location.
We now have 4 Chestnut crabs, 3 All-Winter-Hangover crabs, and 3 Winter Wildlife crabs.
I'm ordering 1 more each of Chestnut and Winter Wildlife crabs for spring 2019. A bear knocked over a Hyslop crab & broke it off at the ground, so I'll plant a Chestnut crab there to replace it. It's in a good bow-hunting location.
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
WSU AxP Puget Spice Crab on G222. About its 3rd year in the ground. I stripped off most of the fruit last spring but half of what I left are still hanging.
No photo but 3 hanging on my young Kerr so that looks very promising. 1 crab left of a couple dozen left on my PRI 77-1 crab so that would be a good archery draw for me but not rifle or late season.
No photo but 3 hanging on my young Kerr so that looks very promising. 1 crab left of a couple dozen left on my PRI 77-1 crab so that would be a good archery draw for me but not rifle or late season.
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Just a FYI for grafters -
I spoke by e-mail to the head of Penn State's fruit tree program today. I asked him if water sprouts were a good source of scion material for grafting. He said yes they are fine as long as they aren't coming from the roots. Those are suckers and may not give you the same type of tree you look to propagate if it's a grafted tree. In that case you would be duplicating the rootstock. If it's a seedling tree, a root sucker will give you the same tree as the one you cut - or dug - the sucker from. He suggested water sprouts from limbs or trunk that are at least 4 ft. or so above ground and about the thickness of a pencil. So - grafted tree or seedling tree, you can't go wrong with water sprouts cut from say, 4 ft. or so above ground.
Just a bit of info from an expert source for any of us that like to graft from seedling crabs, or other roadside gems we happen to find.
I spoke by e-mail to the head of Penn State's fruit tree program today. I asked him if water sprouts were a good source of scion material for grafting. He said yes they are fine as long as they aren't coming from the roots. Those are suckers and may not give you the same type of tree you look to propagate if it's a grafted tree. In that case you would be duplicating the rootstock. If it's a seedling tree, a root sucker will give you the same tree as the one you cut - or dug - the sucker from. He suggested water sprouts from limbs or trunk that are at least 4 ft. or so above ground and about the thickness of a pencil. So - grafted tree or seedling tree, you can't go wrong with water sprouts cut from say, 4 ft. or so above ground.
Just a bit of info from an expert source for any of us that like to graft from seedling crabs, or other roadside gems we happen to find.
