I thought they looked bigger then a golf ball. 1.5-1.75 inches??? How do you think they will do in the hot wet south? Will they be like Wickson and the skin that gets damaged in rain? One reason I am getting Vixen in the future. It handles rain better.
I will probably graft Clark’s on M111 and P.2 and see how they grow. I can not wait to get my P.14 established and put some prolific cluster croppers on wild and wooly P.14.
i probably should have pruned off all the apples this spring and allowed it to grow more but i was too impatient. i had near 0 growth this summer. i expect the apples to be bigger next summer.
I’ve got a b118 and some m111s in the ground. I may try Clarks on those. I wanted the variety on a standard rootstock due to its natural small size. I don’t like having to permanently cage fruit trees to keep deer off. I’ve got a Firecracker crab that is a naturally small tree. If I don’t keep it caged it’d get eaten to a stump
Yes they absolutely are bigger in my experience. Similar to as you describe them.
Every rootstock grows apples differently. When someone says golfball sized i think they mean they never saw one apple any smaller than that and most are bigger.
Mines on m111. thought it was on b118 but 39th parallel website only offers it on m111.
M111 has proven winter hardy here…as long as we have snow cover before it hits -20 or lower. B118 is hardier, but it seems they like to lean thanks to our winds. Antonovka, Dolgo, or seedling roots are what I prefer, especially with varieties that have yet to be proven able to take our winters.
Dolgo and Bittenfelder are the two seedling root stocks I want to get. Dolgo has bèen sold for 100 years as a Georgia rootstock. And Bittenfelder also takes the heat. They must be good, versatile trees to take heat and cold.
Down by you I would have thought Callaway would be better than Dolgo. Dolgo is a selected Siberian crab seedling. You’re a fair distance south of Siberia
Clark’s Crab is vigorous and would be fine on m111. They are doing well in the deer pruned orchard starting to branch out above the browse line.
@dannytoro1 they will get a little bigger if thinned. They do fine with the summer heat here. I would be sure to remove the mummy fruit on Clark’s crab before it breaks dormant.
It’s gotta be my graft or graft/rootstock incompatibility then. I’ve seen zero vigor. Thanks
Well we have Malus angustifolia as a native. But Siberian and Dolgo have been sold by Georgia Nurseries since the early 1800’s. Calloway has earned it’s living as an ornamental. Though it certainly is a fine Pectin, Jelly producer. Noted for it’s insane flowering.
My friend gave me a cutting last yr but it didn’t take. I will ask for another. How does it taste like?
They have a good tart, tangy and sweet balance. Not much of the spiciness of; but nearly the size of Dolgo. A bit smaller. It would be a great juicer and Ciderkin crab. But not hard cider. Not enough complexity for hard ciders. They are good pickling crabs too.
Some of My Clarks’s Crab trees are not well grown here. I cut too much of the vegetative growth sending out scion to everyone and did not prune back the fruit spurs. There are 3 apples to each leave on some trees. I should be able to source scion from the nursery and take better care of the trees from now on.
It’s been a month since the last photo I posted of Clark’s crab. The bright red has mellowed into more of an orange color and obviously it tastes better ripe. I bet they get even better as the tree matures and I’m looking forward to having more!
I just love the way they are kind of flattened shape.
I mailed off a sample for DNA analysis today. Hopefully in 6 months we will know something of it’s Pedigree. I have my suspicions of what the test might reveal. You could all take guesses then I can announce the results like the Maury show: Cox’s Orange Pippin…. You are not the father.
Did Clark mention he collected the seeds from Michigan? How about Opalescent being somewhere in the mix.
Yes, It’s a seedling for a wild Michigan apple. Lot’s of varieties have been grown there so, It will be interesting. DNA testing showed Hubbardston Nonsuch to be an ancestor of Opalescent.
Here are the crabapples that are known to grow wild in Michigan: Malus baccata
SIBERIAN CRAB
Malus coronaria
AMERICAN CRAB, WILD CRAB, SWEET CRAB
Malus ioensis
PRAIRIE CRAB
Malus prunifolia
CRABAPPLE
Malus pumila
APPLE
Malus sieboldii
SIEBOLD CRAB, TORINGO CRAB
I would guess one or more of those might be in the mix and Malus pumila / domestica. Reinette Franche should be there and on or more of its offspring like N Spy, Spitzenburg, Grimes, Yellow Bellflower, Roxbury Russet.
I’d be up for a scion stick of Clark’s after it’s collected this winter. Just enough for a couple grafts.
