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Post by Bwoods11 on May 1, 2017 8:14:50 GMT -6
I made a round to my properties this weekend, so far the trees with the most growth so far are chestnut crab and common wild apple. Great growth and survival so far. This from a novice, and thanks guys for the recommendations.
My goal is apples for wildlife primarily. I did plant a few Honeycrisp and Liberty for eating.
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Post by smsmith on May 1, 2017 8:18:11 GMT -6
Did you happen to notice if the crabs are further along/more "awake" than the wild apples? I've got a couple wild trees here that haven't fruited yet. I watch them each spring trying to determine if they may be apples instead of another wild crab. It seems the wild apples are slower to wake up than the wild crabs.
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 1, 2017 9:05:23 GMT -6
Yes, the crabs are further along, for sure!!
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Post by Sandbur on May 1, 2017 10:37:27 GMT -6
My chestnut crab and centennial are further along in leaf development compared to the larger apples, all at the same location.
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Post by smsmith on May 1, 2017 13:56:38 GMT -6
Since your guys' observations pretty much mimic mine, I have more hope that the trees I've been watching here may indeed be apples instead of crabs. I almost top worked one this year, but decided not to. I really need to at least give them the chance to produce fruit for a couple years.
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 1, 2017 13:59:32 GMT -6
I have quite a few wild crabs, and the funny thing, I never noticed most of them until I started planting more apple trees. Seems like mostly wild crab, and a few wild plum in my county (Pope).
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Post by smsmith on May 1, 2017 14:04:12 GMT -6
^^^Lots of wild crabs around here, but I've only found three wild apples. One is on my place, one is growing on a county highway near Swanville, and the other is growing on a road near Opole.
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Post by Sandbur on May 2, 2017 6:30:17 GMT -6
I know of two apples. One on the neighbor's fence line and one in Benton county on Rice Sportsmans Club land.
In my younger days in Cass County, I never found a wild apple or crab apple.
The furthest north wild crab I have found is just north of the welcome center on highway 371. That is just south of Brainerd.
Maybe my comment should be the further we move into zone 3, versus moving north.
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Post by smsmith on May 2, 2017 6:38:23 GMT -6
In my limited time here, I can say that moving NE is quite different than moving NW. Seems the further NE you go, the sandier and more acidic the soil becomes. NW MN has some areas where the ph is 7 (or higher). Obviously, boreal forest encompasses much of NE and NC MN while it certainly does not in NW MN.
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 2, 2017 10:23:51 GMT -6
I will get some pics of wild trees in the future. What is the best indicator--leaf or apple?
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Post by smsmith on May 2, 2017 11:39:28 GMT -6
I will get some pics of wild trees in the future. What is the best indicator--leaf or apple? The only way to know for sure is to see them fruit. Basically, if they produce fruit over 2" then they're considered an apple. Under 2" and they're a crab. I'm sure there are also DNA tests that could determine if a fruit is "x" percentage crab and "y" percentage apple...but I guess I don't really care all that much. From just checking out a bunch of trees in the area...ornamental crabs are furthest ahead right now, followed by pears(some, not all), then large fruited crabs like Chestnut and Whitney, with apples last. |
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 2, 2017 12:17:59 GMT -6
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Post by westbranch on May 2, 2017 13:28:01 GMT -6
Based on leaves, the way the fruit looks, and thorns, I would say the first one is some sort of hawthorn. I think there are some crabs that have thorns. Hawthorns are good for grouse (probably pheasants and turkeys as well), and I have seen some browsing from deer on new growth.
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 2, 2017 14:27:43 GMT -6
Westbranch--I never even thought about Hawthorn. You might be correct on that. It was in NW MN and they do have some natural hawthorn up there. I just looked at the fruit primarily, it does look at bit different.
I sold that farm anyway, probably never find out.
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Post by smsmith on May 2, 2017 14:41:43 GMT -6
Yup, hawthorn of some sort. Too bad you sold the place, the fruit on that hawthorn appear to be much, much larger than any I've ever seen.
The second pic is likely an ornamental crab of some sort (or an offspring of one). Seems like quite a number of wild crabs in central MN have at least some Red Splendor in them.
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