Those are looking very good! It is a very heavy producer, stores really well, tastes good, it is a very good apple. My location that it comes from has very harsh weather. It proably really loves these other climates like yours.
Nice! Looking forward to trying it out. I wasn’t expecting any fruits this season, but I’m glad it’s precocious. There’s another graft showing signs of blossoms development.
2 Likes
Very precocious!
3 Likes
beetle
cinnabar
Cad (cad red is what I’d use in a painting of that)
2 Likes
If only cinnabar weren’t toxic: the source ore of mercury.
4 Likes
It took me a little while but I think that I have nailed down the time to pick Clarks Crab in my area for a great taste (about 30 miles south of Birmingham). 20250914.
7 Likes
my clarks crab apples are starting to blush and yellow up. still quite small fruit but the tree is still only about 5.5 ft. so it hasnt grown much in the last 2 years. im thinking i shouldnt have allowed it to fruit for its first few years, and just let it grow instead. its carrying about 35 apples on that little tree right now. it has some tough branches. maybe i should prune out some now or is it too late to bother?
3 Likes
I’d try Enterprise, it’s huge and my sister’s favorite apple with the only real downside being thick skin…which is an upside if they fall off the tree or there are pests in the area, they start falling mid October in upstate NY, zone 5b.
Crispen would be interesting, but Crispen is a Triploid, would it would be difficult to actually get viable seeds from it later, but that’s my brothers favorite and also huge.
Both store long into the winter, maybe 5 months or more, the Enterprise, is easy to store; bumps and bangs don’t bother it because of it’s shiny red armor.
1 Like
Could never grow that here. Not without deer cages year-round. They would kill it. Fruit has to be above deer height. Some deer will raise up on hind legs to reach the fruit. But not that big an issue. Kinda rare, but I’ve seen it.
1 Like
Those brown seeds are a really good sign you picked yours at the perfect time. If clarks-crabapple doesn’t taste good, it is likely someone is trying to rush it.
1 Like
@dannytoro1 : I find many Irish Gaelic words sound quite different than my third grade teacher taught me to expect in English phonics. Since it is not English, how do you pronounce the last of those names, Clark’s Caera?
My first try would be Kéh ruh
2 Likes
Have to admit mine was Ki-ruh
2 Likes
i thinned out my clarks crab to about 15 apples. i dont think they will size up much this late in the season but it might help them finish ripening. we’ll see.
4 Likes
How did you like it? You got it right you let the seeds turn black and the apples start to yellow. They can have a slight red blush in full sun.
1 Like
The ones you thinned i would check the seeds and see if they are white and full sized yet. It is going to be close and winter is early this year. All my fruits are ripening later than normal.
1 Like
i removed all the smallest ones. i didnt check the seeds as they were very small. we just got our 1st frost this morning. i should have thinned this spring. i will next year. that should give me a better idea if it will ripen here.
3 Likes
The taste is very good if you let it stay on the tree long enough. I’m liking the time slot it is ripening for me. It ripened ahead of Sundowner and Pink Lady.
2 Likes
I have read repeatedly that clark’s crab is precocious. This spring I grafted it to another crabapple that I planted spring of 2024, and to MM111 rootstock. The crabapple graft has grown 3+ feet and the mm111 grafts are whips taller than I am. I will prune the whips for scaffolds/shape but should I prevent it from fruiting next year on the crab also.
3 Likes
I would leave at least a half dozen so you can learn more about the ripening, taste, etc. A few fruits wont hurt much. They will be very determined to flower next year.
2 Likes
makes sense, thanks. Follow-up questions, how long before allowed to full fruit? Do you thin the fruit like other apples, the pics look like you don’t?
1 Like