Violi's and Coldstream crabs intel

[buckvelvet]

I emailed Todd @ Walden Nurseries about it as they offer that rootstock as well.

There has not been a lot of research documented unfortunately. It appears that what is often quoted is that those with more crab in their genetics have better luck. I have grafted a variety of types without issue. That said, caution is good, and there are plenty of alternatives of hardy material

 

[buckvelvet]

I got a response from Dan Elliott who is from his own orchard in Wasilla, Alaska.

http://www.goodfruit.com/alaskas-fruit-pioneers/

His reply to my inquiry.

Hi. I've heard that varieties that have some crab apple parentage fairly recently have no problem, for example most of the apples from the 3 prairie provinces. The only rejection I ever had was a Summerred on baccatta. It broke cleanly at the graft at about year 5. Summerred is from B.C. , not the prairie provinces.
So I have limited definitive knowledge. Dan.

 

[deepsleep]

If your scion only needs to have some crab heritage, the options are many. One of the best deer apples, Liberty, has plenty of crab in it, for example. If I were a commercial guy, I'd worry. For the deer junkie, I feel the incompatibility fears are overblown. Of course, the commercial guys don't plant standards anyway.

 

[buckvelvet]

If your scion only needs to have some crab heritage, the options are many. One of the best deer apples, Liberty, has plenty of crab in it, for example. If I were a commercial guy, I'd worry. For the deer junkie, I feel the incompatibility fears are overblown. Of course, the commercial guys don't plant standards anyway.

I agree to the point of commercial vs wildlife but I don't want to be growing a healthy tree (so I think) then after a few years have the whole thing split from the graft because they were never compatible in the first place.

 

[buckvelvet]

A quote from the Alaska Department of resources.

Conventional wisdom seems to say that varieties with a lot of crab in them take well. It also says that most of what we have in Alaska has enough crab to do well. I will have to look at my notes to see how things have done, and get back to you. Shafer for one seems not to like it. I'll see what I can tease out of my notes.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

This site has a number of Canadian Prairie hardy apples on it. www.hardyfruittrees.ca has a selection of cold-hardy apples bred in and for the prairies. Some varieties I never heard of on there.

 

[sandbur]

Alberta apples at GRIN

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/swish/accboth?query=alberta apple&submit=Submit Text Query&si=0

Saskatchewan

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/swish/accboth?query=saskatchewan apple&submit=Search!&sort=swishrank&si=0&.cgifields=si&.cgifields=reverse

Manitoba

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/swish/accboth?query=manitoba apple&submit=Submit Text Query&si=0

Much of my order came from these choices.

 

[buckvelvet]

Rusty from the Alaska DNR Biology dept sent some information today about Siberian Crab and its compatible nature.

https://sites.google.com/site/alaskafruittrees/rootstock

Malus baccata. Seedling rootstock. This is the Siberian Crabapple. Is hardiest apple rootstock known, hardy to USDA Zone 1, and produces a semi-dwarf tree. These trees are smaller that those grafted onto ranetka, and tend to bear fruit a year or so earlier. This rootstock is prone to sending up suckers form the base of the main stem and also from roots. Malus baccata is native to Eastern Siberia, Russian Far East, Mongolia, China, Korea, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, where it is common in mixed forests on hilly slopes at elevations up to 1500 meters. This reportedly accepts varieties better that have a lot of crabapple in their heritage. The winter of 2012-22013, which had a brutal spring I entered with about 100 grafted apples in pots. They all sat on the ground all winter, they were about 50% grafted onto Ranetka and 50% on baccata, almost all the varieties grafted onto baccata survived and none of the Ranetka survived. This sold me on this rootstocks hardiness. I am testing more varieties to evaluate the compatibility issue people talk about.

 

[deepsleep]

An update on Violi's. They have turned nearly entirely red, and less than 10% have dropped. They remain very firm and crunchy. They have become quite sweet, but they are too astringent/tannic for fresh eating. They should, however, add complexity to hard cider as well as feed some critters this winter.

Also, these trees on Antonovka are so nice, I'm going to plant a bunch of rootstock next year. They are replacing the big power line on my property and expanding the clearing another 20 feet. Originally I was ticked off, but I have since realized it will allow me to add a long row (1/2 mile) of standard apple trees. Who wouldn't be happy about that?

 

[deepsleep]

Violi's still hanging (since you guys like pictures)