Why grow crab apples?

[Auburn]

I was surprised at how well I liked the sweet/sour taste.

[Auburn]

Thanks

[Auburn]

Pollination is one reason I keep them but I also like the taste. Some are better than the others.

[Auburn]

I think you are correct.

[cousinfloyd]

Bill, I’d be interested to hear which crab apples do well for you and are good for fresh eating. I’ve read some very interesting taste descriptions of crab apples grown pretty up north or out west, but I’m skeptical not only of how well those same trees will grow in the Southeast but also whether they’d taste as good grown here. I’d love to hear any recommendations for fresh eating crab apples from anyone in the Southeast, especially any sweet (or sweet-tart, etc.) ones.

[zendog]

I harvested my first Centennial crabs this year in 7a, northern Virginia. Very tasty and mostly sweet, with just a bit of tart. Ripe starting the first of July, so pretty early.

Seeing as the parents are Dolgo and Wealthy and it is known to be cold hardy, it is disease resistant and great here as well. Only issue was a bit of water core, but not really an issue since I ate them right away. Lucky P always touted Callaway which I have as well and it is crazy productive although smaller fruit at about an inch. Unfortunately squirrels took them all before I got a taste. Maybe next year…

I also have Wickson, Kerr, Almata, Olga and Chestnut, but haven’t tested them yet. Wickson has some fruit so I hope the squirrels leave me some. My trees are all M111/M27 interested, except for Centennial and Callaway which are naturally smaller, so I put them on M111/Bud9.

[dutch-s]

I grow them specifically for the deer. I have hopes they will eat them and leave my others alone. Perhaps wishful thinking. regardless it will keep them around the area. I will shoot a few each year to have my meat for the year and having something good for them to eat is really no different than a food plot you redo every year… Not sure if my thinking is flawed or brilliant. Time will tell. I’m sure they will love the crab apples regardless. And If my plan doesn’t work they are great for pies!!

[Auburn]

especially any sweet (or sweet-tart, etc.) ones.

The unknown crab I mentioned above is my sweetest/tart apple and has done well for the three year I have had it. The other one I have that I am happy with is the Craven crab but it has just a pleasant tart taste. The three years I have had these is not enough time to determine how they will do long term. Bill

[subdood_ky_z6b]

It may work out, but, I’ve heard both sides, one says they’ll just hit just the crabs, and others might say it’ll bring them in closer to your good stuff, and they’ll just move on to those afterwards.

I might consider maybe putting in a bean plot of some type out in the south pasture, just to keep them out of our gardens in the spring/summer, and like you, come fall, wait for them during hunting season.

[JesseS]

Hewe’s Virginia Crab should do well in the southern tier, does great up north too!
It is quite sweet, sour and a bit astringent, think sour patch kid candy. 1-1.5" size fruit ripens late summer, early fall.
Big showy blooms give it some ornamental value. Precocious bearer and natural semi dwarf growth habit. If you need scions, just remind me this winter.

[Lucky_P]

CuzFloyd,
Centennial(DolgoXWealthy) is good, and did well for my dad, down at Auburn AL, as well.
Kerr (DolgoXHaralson, IIRC) is good here - smaller than Centennial, with a more tart flavor and musky wine undertone.
Jim Bastian’s Orange Crab is good; sweet, with really dense yellow-orange flesh.

I’ve had both Chestnut and Wickson here at one time or another and lost both before they ever fruited.
Craven scions that I got from Joyce Neighbors before she passed her collection to Seed Savers turned out NOT to be Craven Crab. Gotta remember to hit Bill up for some Craven scions some year.

Callaway is a heavy producer… to the point of assuming an almost weeping habit due to fruit load. 1-1.5(max)" apples, but they’ve been a family favorite here for decades. Most folks would regard it as an ornamental type, but we eat 'em all. Good disease resistance, too.

I have one I got from a fellow NAFEX member years ago - an open-pollenated seedling of Hampshire… evidently with a red-fleshed crab pollen parent, she called it Hampshire Red. Pink blossoms, purple leaves(and wood) , tasty little crabs with red veins in the flesh… that reminds me - I need to check the tree…I may have already missed them.

[JohnS]

Crabapples are more nutritious than other apples. I agree with Lucky, zendog, smsmith, etc. with good ones. Wickson produces a ton here and is absolutely delicious. I usually just make one branch of a tree for pollination. I like them, but I’m not going to eat 500 crabapples! I also like Callaway: crisp, tart, juicy, distinctive. Your dolgo looks ready to eat. Try one and see what you like. I find they get rotten spots if left too long and evil squirrels will steal them. Dolgo is partly a different species.
John S
PDX OR

[jxz7245]

How does the Dolgo hold up to insect damage if not sprayed against insects? Thanks!!

[Auburn]

Craven Crab. Gotta remember to hit Bill up for some Craven scions some year.

I’m holding your Craven scions waiting on a PM address. Hope to here from you soon. Bill

[forestandfarm]

If you scroll back up in the thread, you’ll see some crabapples I started from seed. I grafted many of them last spring some took, even on seedlings this young. I transplanted them to the field last fall. Many didn’t take, so I tried budding in the summer. My budding success was very poor. Nothing took last year. I overwintered the trees in a cold room and brought them out and put them under lights last month. Only one of my many budding attempts took. I did get hit hard with powdery mildew last summer which could have been part of the problem

I decided to regraft those that failed. Some are doing pretty well. Here is a recent picture:

[deff]

I live on the north slope of a mountain, most likely zone 3. It was well accepted that the only apples hardy enough to grow here were crabs. I have 3 trees that were planted in the mid 1960’s that are still thriving.

My Whitney Crab bears an abundant crop of sweet little apples in early September for a summertime treat. They don’t store well so we mainly just eat them straight from the tree
.
I have a Chestnut Crab that is a biannual bearer ( late Sept / early Oct) but the apples have awesome flavor and texture and will store 2 or 3 months in the fridge. If I was establishing an orchard anywhere, a Chestnut Crab would be one of the first planted!

My wife made apple juice and jelly from the Dolgo Crabs, Mainly it is a prolific pain that would be best used for a food plot for wildlife. It attracts Bohemian Waxwings, Wild Turkeys, Deer and Raccoons to my yard and the acid from the apple drops peels the paint off any vehicle parked too close! Since it is so dog-gone healthy, I plan to try to gradually top graft the Dolgo into something more edible.

[applebacon]

I have a bunch of crab apples in my orchard, i love 'em. Haven’t tasted any of them, but when they are old enough but crab apples produce a ton of fruit and wild life loves 'em. Bonus great pollination for the man size apples I grow.

[dutch-s]

Thats good to know. i planted two Chesnut late last year to compliment my Robinson’s…

[JohnS]

I grow organic, and I have no problems with Dolgo.
John S
PDX OR

[jxz7245]

I wanted to know how Dolgo performs regarding pests damaging the fruit when not sprayed at all - even organically. Thanks!