Whats some apples that are low effort and disease resistant for zone 8b central texas?
I would like to have a variety so i can try breeding them. Im also interested in espaliering them maybe as a “dutch fence” im also wanting some that can be grown not as grafts but on their own roots and i would like for them to get tall.
I would say there are no apples that are low effort and highly disease resistant in most of Texas. If you want to grow apples, you have to understand that it generally isn’t a very favorable climate for it and it will take effort. That said, varieties that are often grown are things like golden dorsett, Anna, crips pink(aka pink lady). There are various other cultivars that people try, but those are most frequent. If breeding is a goal, I encourage it, but understand it’s very much a long term effort. Given how unadapted apples are to much of Texas, it might be useful to go back to the two species of wild southern crab apples(malus angustifolia & the blanco crabapple)if you want to do breeding, understanding fruit quality will be poor in the first generations.
Theres a crabapple with bitter fruit near our pond. I havent checked on it in years tho. If it is still there would that be a good starting point? I like the look of the red blooms of the “red prairie fire” crab apples ive seen on a few websites.
This is the one i like the look of the blooms. Im in zone 8b but its getting warmer every year and colder every winter it seems like.
Reverend Morgan, San Jacinto and Jonalicious are Texas loving apples. Texas breifly released an apple they picked up from Brazil but I can not recall the name. Check out Southern Cultured Orchards/Larry Stephenson{on facebook}. He grows many heritage apples from the Gulf region that would do well there.
If I was looking to use a crab for breeding for apples adapted to Texas or more generally the Southeastern United states, I would not use a cultivated flowering crab of unknown origin and questionable regional adaptation. All crabs are not created equal. I would collect native crab varieties from the wild if possible, that way locality of origin and thus climate sutability is known. I would also test several different wild crabs for various foliar diseases and fruit rot resistance so I had a good starting point. If you’re going back to wild species with all the baggage and poor fruit qualities that comes with that, you want to make sure you have the opportunity to pick up as many desirable traits for disease resistances and climate adaptations as possible (late, synchronized flowering, proper chill hours for your region, fruit rot resistance, foliar disease resistances, etc.)
It could be. It would certainly be worth looking at if it has survived for years and done well in your area. If it’s the blanco crabapple, rare but native to central Texas, even better.
Welcome RayRay. Are you more Austin Central Texas, San Antonio Central Texas or Texas Hill Country Central Texas? I’m in Central Texas too, but where I’m at it’s a low spot, so I’m more zone 7 than 8.
I second what SethDoty said about apples being “low effort”. They aren’t. But they aren’t impossible to grow either. Check out fire blight resistant southern apples, and go from there. Kuffel Creek ( WEBSITE) has a good southern apple list, though I have my doubts about “Sierra Beauty” on there, and my Jonalicious still has green leaves…but it’s it’s first year, so it’s still trying to figure out the Texas weather.
Williams Pride and Akane have fruited for me (Akane has yet to have good fruit).I have seen Gala’s and Fuji’s fruit. Love Creek Orchard in Medina used to have apples like Crispin(mutsu) and Mollie’s Delicious. Golden delicious produces here too too. There was an apple guy in Mason, and he had luck with “Goldrush” a few years. I did not. If you aren’t afraid of fireblight risk, “Wickson Crab” has bloomed for me, but I don’t have a pollinator nearby, so it hasn’t set.
TAMU recommends M111 rootstock, but I’ve found it’s rather sluggish and slow to grow here compared to the geneva roostocks. I’ve started to play with seedling rootstocks, because I want a bigger root system and I don’t think they will get as big here as they would elsewhere.
The blanco crabapple is pretty rare and grows super slow. There are colonies of it around Johnson City. There was a Master Gardener there that I’ve spoke to before about them, but I don’t remember his name. Natives of Texas in Kerrville has had Blanco Crabapples before.
I would like to point out that the Blanco Crabapple I planted died. My apple trees survived.
Also, you should check out these threads for Texas apple info:
@JerrytheDragon is another Central Texas apple grower. He knows good stuff too.
Thanks for the great replys everyone. Sorry i work the night shift so just got started on my day so im late to the replys.
Ill check to see if that crab apple is still alive. Would a blanco crabapple be self polinating? I remember it having fruit on it when i was younger but i havent been near it when its fruiting lately.
Like all Prairie Crabs; Malus ioensis var. texana is not self fertile. Probably a good thing as bitter as the fruit are. Still a good early season pollinator though.
I wonder where the other was its the only one ive seen.
There are plenty of good crabs and apples to graft as pollination partners. Just make sure to get trees in one side or the other of your main tree’s pollination group. Ie if your tree is from group 4; use a pollinator from group 3 or 4 or 5.
Whats the different groups? Is that the time they bloom? And the crab apple is still there.
There are 8 groups. 1 to 8 or A to H. Crab Apples often bloom longer but not always. Here is a decent chart to give an idea.
Notice Blanc Crab is on it. There are no fixed dates. Just typical orders of blooming.
Is it possible to breed for longer bloom times by breeding overlapping blooms?
Also what is the best time to search for the seedlings for the crab apple. I got permission from the family member that owns that part of the farm to take cuttings and air layering and even fruit and seedlings.
Thanks for the chart i downloaded it.
I’m sure you could breed long blooming types. Not sure what the results would be. Frankly if you graft Chestnut and Pear Leaf crab in your orchards; you have the whole season about covered.
Thanks ill look for those varieties 
i just would rather have a long harvest rather than having bucket loads all at one time lol.
Im about a hour and a half away from austin and less from college station.
If you want long harvests just buy everbearing type heritage apples. Aunt Rachel, Salley Grey, Alexander Ice Cream, Hollow Log, Jim Day, Primate, Jefferis, Tucker, Hackworth and some others.
