I honestly expected FB this year i mean its been so wet and still is wet. So I sprayed Ferti-lome Fire Blight Spray / Streptomycin I think three times, twice during bloom and once post bloom as per label. Seems like it worked because I haven’t seen any FB.
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It’s very lush this year and has put on some nice growth. I hit it with Surround after taking the picture so maybe my fruit will be worm-free.
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I also put my wolf river graft into a chestnut crab, I like to really see the difference between the stuff haha
the Clarks graft in question is still getting some length on it right now
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Clark’s was looking good today. My thinning with Carbaryl seemed to work. No blight strikes despite being close to a few varieties taking heavy damage. This Breakwell Seedling is about 50 ft away.
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M26 finally got around to breaking leaf today.
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It doesn’t look like my 3rd leaf CC on wild apple rootstock is waking up this spring. Not sure if -32 with little snow cover is the reason. I am seeing a bit of green on this year’s CC topworks. Maybe those will survive and thrive.
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My Clark’s Crab grafted to my established Sweet Sixteen is alive and well.
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I’m hoping that topworking it to older/established trees increases survival
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My 3 trees on M.7 are all setting blooms. They’re a bit beat up from our winter, had some branches torn off, but they’re recovering. Still not sure they should be allowed to fruit yet.
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Have been cutting blight out of CC for four days now. It may not like my no-spray orchard. Only tree in orchard having blight trouble at the moment. Has been perfect weather for blight, will see if hotter temps coming soon help.
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@smsmith Don’t give up yet. It took me three years of trying to get Maiden Blush going & now it has its first crop set.
I might be able to send you a scion or two from my two whips next winter. I can freeze scions until sending - and wait to send 'em until last of April.
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Was ‘Clark’s Crab’ blooming more that the other trees in your orchard this year? If I’m not mistaken, every flower cluster could be a potential entry point for blight so more heavy flowering could be something at play.
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I now think it was my fault for not pruning it open enough, leaving congested areas not open to sun/wind. I pruned out a ton when dormant but obviously not enough.
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Yes, when temperatures are right fireblight attacks rapidly dividing cells like blooms and new growth. It is bacteria but only attacks growing tissue.
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M26 is barely hanging on. Very wilty and leaf yellowing. B10 has made a nice leafy start. P.2 however is already branching out.
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my clarks has set about 25 blooms this spring. half of last year which makes more sense . im hoping for some good ones this year. all my fruit trees are also fruiting for the 1st time. if half of the blooms set, ill have plenty of apples/ pears.
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Clarks crab seems to have weird grafting habits. In the past I grafted it to two separate trees and to this day it has not put out much growth on either tree. Grafted it again this year on two different trees and the growth has boomed past the growth of the original grafts years older. Guess it’s kind of picky which trees it likes being grafted to. Happy to see it pumping out the growth though.
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Clark’s Crab on M26 finally keeled over while I was in the hospital this week. B10 and P.2 look great.
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Mine grafted on wild apple in 2023 didn’t wake up this spring. I haven’t gotten to the 2 I topworked to wild crabs this spring yet. Everything else I grafted or topworked this spring is going good, so I’m hoping the CC’s are too.
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I think everything said above is true of clarks crabapple and many other trees also. The right rootstock with the right scion in the right place is the secret to everything good in grafting.
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