Prairie Crabapple grafting compatibility?

[roth2000]

I have found some (what I believe to be) prairie crabapples on my property that I'm considering grafting to. Just curios if anyone has done the same and are there any compatibility issues? I'm also questioning the possibility of the trees being hawthorn, so what's the best way to differeciate between hawthorn and prairie crabapple?

 

[sandbur]

I have found some (what I believe to be) prairie crabapples on my property that I'm considering grafting to. Just curios if anyone has done the same and are there any compatibility issues? I'm also questioning the possibility of the trees being hawthorn, so what's the best way to differeciate between hawthorn and prairie crabapple?

You are in the range of the prairie crab. An old reference from the ‘30’s lists Nevis, Mn as the northern extent of the range of ioensis.

I find various crabs in the wild near me and they range west and somewhat northwest of me in Mn. I don’t find many wild crabs north of Brainerd.

I would watch for blooming trees this spring and mark them via photos or surveyors tape. See what kind of fruit they produce. You might even get a larger apple.

I suspect the crabs I find around my place are a blend of planted genetics and perhaps some ionensis genes.


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[Yarg]

The Hawthorne here in NY have thorns.

 

[roth2000]

Here is a link to the prairie crab apple that I've been trying to identify. Not much different from the hawthorn pics and descriptions I've read.
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/prairie-crabapple

 

[sandbur]

Here is a link to the prairie crab apple that I've been trying to identify. Not much different from the hawthorn pics and descriptions I've read.
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/prairie-crabapple

Please check your pm’s.


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[PoorSand]

I dug some 12" tall Prairie Crab whips up today and discovered that they were actually suckers attached to a long, thick root that had large masses of root hairs beneath the suckers. I cut the root into segments with about 5" on either side of each sucker and potted them. The root-to-shoot ratio on these is very, very high.

While digging up the suckers, I also popped out lots of single rooted ones incidental to the sucker collection. Those also came up with plenty of root attached. If I knew that these would make good rootstock for grafting regular apple varieties onto, I might snag a whole bunch of them and replant them further apart in a better location. Does anyone on this forum have any experience to share about growing an apple tree grafted specifically onto Prairie Crab rootstock?

 

[PoorSand]

A few observations about the Prairie Crabapples growing on my property:
- They are the strain shown here: https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/malioe01.htm
- They are prospering in very moist areas, particularly ditch edges and the edges of potholes
- They blossom profusely and the bloom overlaps with the king bloom of some of the flowering group 3 trees
- Some start flowering when they are just three to four feet tall
- The fruit generally gets about one inch in diameter, though there is a bit of range
- They tolerate lots of shade, growing well right up against the north side of pines trees taller than them
- Even the ones in full sun grow a bit spindly
- Some are 30' tall
- If the fruits don't get eaten, they come up every couple inches apart in all directions
- The one-foot tall ones coming up from half-inch diameter stumps left behind by the road ditch mowing crew often have good rootballs under them and the 6" X 12" X 14" Walmart bags (not the really big ones) are a good size for them
- The ones over about fifteen feet tall sucker quite a bit from their roots and the bottom half of a grain seed bag works for those suckers with some parent root attached

Ones I've seen growing on another property have a little bit of cedar apple rust.

 

[sandbur]

I dug some 12" tall Prairie Crab whips up today and discovered that they were actually suckers attached to a long, thick root that had large masses of root hairs beneath the suckers. I cut the root into segments with about 5" on either side of each sucker and potted them. The root-to-shoot ratio on these is very, very high.

While digging up the suckers, I also popped out lots of single rooted ones incidental to the sucker collection. Those also came up with plenty of root attached. If I knew that these would make good rootstock for grafting regular apple varieties onto, I might snag a whole bunch of them and replant them further apart in a better location. Does anyone on this forum have any experience to share about growing an apple tree grafted specifically onto Prairie Crab rootstock?

I have some wild crabs I call swamp crab and have grafted other apples and crabs to them.
They are probably my best rootstock for wet conditions. I find them along ditch banks and right down in the willows.

I have dug up rootsuckers and also started them from a piece of root with a bud on it.

How much ionensis blood is in them I don’t know, but some creek/ ditch bottoms have a dozen or more trees with their white blossoms.

There seems to be an area of central Minnesota where they are less common, but Friday I found one up in the Chippewa National Forest.

Here are a few pictures from Saturday.

The second picture has one growing right next to a red cedar. I haven’t seen any real problems from CAR.

I think this would be a great rootstock for those of us planting in wet areas. Heck, it is. I have trees that I topworked and are producing 2-3 inch crabs.


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[sandbur]

I dug some 12" tall Prairie Crab whips up today and discovered that they were actually suckers attached to a long, thick root that had large masses of root hairs beneath the suckers. I cut the root into segments with about 5" on either side of each sucker and potted them. The root-to-shoot ratio on these is very, very high.

While digging up the suckers, I also popped out lots of single rooted ones incidental to the sucker collection. Those also came up with plenty of root attached. If I knew that these would make good rootstock for grafting regular apple varieties onto, I might snag a whole bunch of them and replant them further apart in a better location. Does anyone on this forum have any experience to share about growing an apple tree grafted specifically onto Prairie Crab rootstock?

I have some wild crabs I call swamp crab and have grafted other apples and crabs to them.
They are probably my best rootstock for wet conditions. I find them along ditch banks and right down in the willows.

I have dug up rootsuckers and also started them from a piece of root with a bud on it.

How much ionensis blood is in them I don’t know, but some creek/ ditch bottoms have a dozen or more trees with their white blossoms.

There seems to be an area of central Minnesota where they are less common, but Friday I found one up in the Chippewa National Forest.

Here are a few pictures from Saturday.

The second picture has one growing right next to a red cedar. I haven’t seen any real problems from CAR.

I think this would be a great rootstock for those of us planting in wet areas. Heck, it is. I have trees that I topworked and are producing 2-3 inch crabs.


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Here is the graft union where I topworked one of the swamp crabs. I am wondering if the topwork will outgrow the rootstock.

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[PoorSand]

I took another walk and it looks to me like the Prairie Crabs growing in the open here get about two-thirds the trunk diameter that I am used to seeing on regular apple trees their height.

The water table here is unusually high this year and I noticed one jumbo down the road that is still under about a foot of water, but looking good.

I guess if nothing else, they give the mason bees here something to feed on several days ahead of when much else is available.

The ones I dug up this morning all looked unhappy by the time I bagged them, but I watered them and they all look perky already.

 

[PoorSand]

Follow up information on the Prairie Crabs I dug up and containerized...
They have added height nicely, but none of them have gotten to quarter inch caliper yet, so I won't be attempting to T-bud them this year. In contrast, I was able to T-bud containerized Dolgo seedling suckers and wild apple tree suckers that were shorter when I dug them up, and still are shorter than the Prairie Crabs.