They are crab apples no more!

[don1357]

I thought this was cute; at the supermarket today I saw a bag of miniature apples! I wish I could grow those, I have a variety of crab apples but no miniature apples

[MikeC]

Wish you took a photo of them. I have not seen those before.

[steveb4]

i have a clarks crab, chestnut crab and wickson crab is on its way. im crabbed out.

[randyks]

Steve, you might like ‘Martha’ and ‘Whitney’. Both were tasty, I thought.

[steveb4]

good to know. the clark and chestnut came from 39th parallel nursery.

[smsmith]

Given the resemblance of “crab” to “crap” I can understand why nobody wants to try to sell consumers on the former.

I think most Americans consider crab apples inedible.

[randyks]

Mike’s a good guy, just 30 miles east of me.

[DAVELn17]

I also got both from 39th Parallel Nursery, Both actually grew several flowers this spring,

[steveb4]

its a shame as they are all much tougher/ disease resistant than most regular apples.

[smsmith]

Chestnut does well here and is as good eating as many apples. It isn’t any more disease resistant or any tougher than many of my apples however. I remain doubtful about Wickson’s long term hardiness, but time will tell. I am anxious to graft a couple Clark’s crabs in a couple weeks. With any luck we’ll find out if that one is zone 3/4 tough.

[steveb4]

most of the nurseries say Wickson is z4 but a few say 5. i guess ill see. im betting as its a crab its probably hardier than the breeder rated it.

[smsmith]

A guy about 40 minutes southeast of me has Wickson. His tree has borne fruit at least a couple years and has seen numerous lows of -25 to -30 or so. No test winter lows of -40 since the tree has been in the ground, so time will tell. I’ve got a Wickson here that I grafted a couple years ago, so far it’s been a good grower.

I’ve got a crab I call “not Whitney”. It was sold to me as a Whitney crab from Stark Bros. That tree has seen weeks and weeks of -25 to -30 and a week or so of -30 to -38. I don’t know what crab it is, but it’s not Whitney It tested at 18 brix a couple falls ago. The crab I know as Whitney ripens in late August/early September, drops readily from the tree, and quickly turns mealy. This crab doesn’t ripen until mid-late September, hangs well into October/November and remains crunchy/crisp for awhile after picking.

[Fusion_power]

@steveb4

im crabbed out.

You’re just crabby. Crab on, people.

[Lucky_P]

I’ve got one that was supposed to be Bastian Orange crab, but the more I look at it and show photos to apple folks, the more I think it’s probably Trailman…hands-down, the tastiest apple, of any size, that I’ve ever eaten.

Got scions of both Trailman and Bastian Orange and grafted them into an older crab that I mostly reworked with my Bastian/Trailman scions last year. Hopefully in a couple of years the puzzle will be solved.

[don1357]

I grafted a good number of crabs this year; Trailman, Chestnut, Whitney, Rescue, I would like to say Centennial but I can’t find my notes, and something called Diebel that may or may not be a crab; I can’t find any info on it other than it being a red fleshed apple. I wanted to propagate more Kerr but my baby tree doesn’t have enough growth to donate.

If you are juicing in northern territories them small apples are a life saver; most early apples are not the best for juicing, crabs can provide the tannins and acidity most of the table apples lack. Not to mention that a few are sugar bombs.

[Xprmntl]

Rockit is a small apple that have made inroads to our local supermarkets–come in a mini plastic box.

[don1357]

It is more an exercise in marketing than an apple.

You know how car marketing is all about selling you the sizzle, not the steak? Take a quick look at how they market this crabapple, it is all about how great you would feel if you just spend your money on it.

I’ll grab a bag next time I’m at the supermarket but I seriously doubt that it would be better than chestnut or a long list of other superb crabs out there that just lack an agent.

[busch83]

Tried the rockets the other day. Partially out of curiosity and partially because small apples are the right size for my kids. The size was novel and well received but for me the flavor was so light as to be almost non-existent. I’m growing a chestnut crab which I have high hopes for.

[DAVELn17]

Hi,

I wanted to share a picture of Clarks Crabapple tree I received recently. I know I need to remove them but they are great to see.

[Vault22dweller]

Wickson crab flowered it’s heart out for me. Nothing set because it didn’t have a pollinator nearby, but it made a good effort. I got a feathered tree and it looks great. I wish I had a pollinator friend for it.