Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Bur - what do you mean by " 5 of each rootstock? " Roots like B-118, MM-111, M-7, etc. ? Or are you talking roots like Ranetka, Columbia, Dolgo, etc.?
The Sandbox
- Thread starter sandbur
- Start date
TMIL
5 year old buck +
Go for it! What is that old saying? 'Create a better crabapple and the world will beat a path to your door.' Or something like that. ;)
Maya
5 year old buck +
Oh BTW, Appleman found a chance seedling on his property that tested out great for a cider apple. Anyways he is having it grown by ACN, I think and is getting some pretty good royalties! It's going to be available in 2017 or 18, and called Franklin Cider apple. For hard cider right now Art, the cider makers are using just about anything, but are paying a little more for some better testing bitter sharps and such. The market is really taking off here in Vt., I here there is a couple real good cider makers out there too.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
I wish you were closer. I would like to see crabapples that are zione 3 hardy with drop times that would cover 8 or more months. I think it can be doen and some of these wild trees work for late season.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Perhaps I didnto explain my thinking very well.
I would think at least ten of each rootstock that is grown from seed should be planted due to the variability fo seedlings. Are ranetka, columbia, and dolgo rootstock grown from seed?
the way I understand things is that clonal rootstock should all be the same tree and same fruit size. Perhaps 2 or 3 of those would be enough to see what they produce for apples and drop time, etc.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
What do you have for native crabs and when do they drop?
Do you see those wild crabs in the prairie areas or in the river bottoms with more moisture?
Do the prairie crabs seem to be shorter or bushier? I just suspect wind leads to a different type of tree in the exposed sites and that more dry periods might also affect tree size/growth.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
We dont have any wild crab apples here, at least none that I know of. My intentions are to get scions from various crabapples that GRIN has, as well as other sources. Even some other large apples that show good disease resistance and different drop times and then do some cross pollination experimenting. We are talking about several years if not longer to come up with a variety that fills a certain window. There might be certain apples that already exsist we just dont know about them because the vast majority of experimenting has a different objective than us wildlife guys have. Unfortunately even on GRIN the descriptions are either not very thorough or are lacking all together. You are right though that growing locations likely will affect affect the growth habit and other factors of a certain variety. Obviously there will be a need for testing at the "Sandbur Research Station" and "Crazy Ed Research Station" at some point! :D
I am going to do some more research on the apple breeding programs to see if I can find some hidden gems, speed up my expeimenting process, and just increase my overall knowledge.
I am going to do some more research on the apple breeding programs to see if I can find some hidden gems, speed up my expeimenting process, and just increase my overall knowledge.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Way to go TC !! That's a good project to get into for wildlife folks' sake. Lots of guys may benefit from finding a late dropping crab or 2.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
I saw 3 fawns and a doe on my place the other day. I believe that is the first deer I have seen in the daylight since Nov. deer season. They were eating some kale that I left standing in the garden.
The deer are also picking up crab apples under the rootstock (garden ) crab.
I found 2 or 3 turnip bulbs that had been eaten in the foodplot and also a few beet tops were nibbled on. They had not been touched up until this point. 160 acres of corn that was 1/2 mile away came out and that could have made the difference.
The deer are also picking up crab apples under the rootstock (garden ) crab.
I found 2 or 3 turnip bulbs that had been eaten in the foodplot and also a few beet tops were nibbled on. They had not been touched up until this point. 160 acres of corn that was 1/2 mile away came out and that could have made the difference.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
How many years has the garden crab been in the ground? How tall is it now?
sandbur
5 year old buck +
It was here when I bought the place and during one winter died back to ground level. That would be almost 30 years ago. I had some regrowth from below the graft and trimmed it back to one sucker.
I cannot remember what year it died back but probably within the first 3 years we were here.
buckvelvet
5 year old buck +
Gotta love to see signs of life in this brutal time of year for us northerners.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Well you must have at least one deer with antlers left in your neck of the woods.:)
Steve Bartylla
5 year old buck +
I really like that photo, Art. The colors, lighting, fresh snow, rubs framed well, all just make it a really nice photo. Over the years, I've developed an appreciation for "good" photography and that is what that photo is.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Nice crab trees you have there Bur. I've said it before, but boy I love the look of your ground with the tags and spruce on it and crabs sprinkled around. If your land was transplanted to my camp's area - it would be a hot-bed of deer activity / bedding. Your place just looks DEER - Y !!
