Crab Apple

Hello,

Inspired by Mike's Crab Apple, I bought this little tree last weekend at BoBB.

Also attached is a couple of pictures of my other Malus Sylvestris I've had for a few years. Never flowered though

Hope you like the trees. I'd much appreciate any growing / styling tips on both trees.

Regards,

Faisal

Your'e a lucky boy, if only I had been there.....

Wow Faisal, that big one looks very promising! Do you have any pictures of it without leaves?

Hi Faisal, the second is looking ancient.
Show us some pictures when you start the styling please.
regards, Sunip

Hi Faisal, why you bought this tree, what do you like?
My shohin crab aple is pushing flowerbuds at the moment.

Keep apple moist at all times, I myself always never use pottingsoil accept for yamadori and yes your wright apples, just a litlle in the soilmixture helps you keep it moist.
I cut a little in high summer otherwise you take flowering pieces away.

Peter

Hi Faisal.
I wouldn't worry about the flowers if the big one was my tree - just love it as it is! It looks amazing and I too would love to see a photo of it without leaves.
Best wishes
Lone

Hans Vleugels wrote:Wow Faisal, that big one looks very promising! Do you have any pictures of it without leaves?

Thanks, Hans. I think I have a few pictures of the tree without leaves. I will post them for you.

Cheers

[quote="landerloos"]Hi Faisal, why you bought this tree, what do you like?

Thank you, Peter. I like the trunk movement on this little tree and thought I'd plant it in the ground for a few years
and let it grow and thicken up.

I do keep my big tree in part shade and keep it moist most time. I'm quite happy with it's progress.

Regards

Lone wrote:Hi Faisal.
I wouldn't worry about the flowers if the big one was my tree - just love it as it is! It looks amazing and I too would love to see a photo of it without leaves.
Best wishes
Lone

Hi Lone, Good to see you on IBC. Glad you like my tree. I will post some more pictures shortly.

Regards

sunip wrote:Hi Faisal, the second is looking ancient.
Show us some pictures when you start the styling please.
regards, Sunip

Hi Sunip,

It's a very old tree with natural hollow trunk.
I will post some more pictures soon.

Regards

Hi Faisal,

in the picture its hard to see how the new apple looks, need a picture of the tree without pot so one can see the nebari aso.
The big one is stunning, why does it not flower?
Could be because its a wild species, and they need many years, you keep it quiet short, I think you clip the flowering spurs away, apples do need and left growing wild for a litle bit.

Peter

I dunno about wild species. I once had a local collected species but it got full of borers.
If you want flowers, get one of the newer disease resistant cultivars. I have 'Indian Summer,' which produces beautiful mauve flowers every spring. If you hunt around, you can probably find someone who grows them from cuttings.
Iris

Could be because its a wild species, and they need many years, you keep it quiet short, I think you clip the flowering spurs away, apples do need and left growing wild for a litle bit.

I would agree with this. The wild ones take a while. I know it's old but all the growth is young. Keep doing what you are doing and one year it will surprise you with flowers. I have about 15 of them planted in the ground for 12 years now. I'm just developing heavy trunks. Not worried about flowers yet. Last year was the first I saw any flowers and that was one cluster on one tree!!

Nice tree

[quote="Ian Young"]

I know it's old but all the growth is young.

On trees in this group, individual branches may not reach puberty until they are ten years old. I had a hawthorn with a bottom branch that developed after I bought it. The tree bloomed every year, but the bottom branch never bloomed (tree is now deceased).
The advantage of cutting-grown cultivars is that they bloom at an early age. I bought my 'Indian Summer' in 1999 and it started blooming in 2004. It is in bud just in time for Passover.
Iris

Faisal my friend I will take that big craptree from your hands
I will get it in flower for sure in a couple of years.

Peter

landerloos wrote:Faisal my friend I will take that big craptree from your hands
I will get it in flower for sure in a couple of years.

Peter

All yours, Peter. When do you wanna come around to pick it up :-))

[quote="Ian Young"]

Could be because its a wild species, and they need many years, you keep it quiet short, I think you clip the flowering spurs away, apples do need and left growing wild for a litle bit.

Thanks, Ian.

I'm not touching it this year. Just let it grow and see if it flowers then. maybe in the next few years.

@ Iris : Thanks, Iris. I will look for cutting grown cultivars and plant them in the ground to thicken up.

Thanks for your advice.

Regards

Dave Martin wrote:Your'e a lucky boy, if only I had been there.....

What happened to you Dave, thought you'd be there?

Great trees Faz, particularly the big boy.

Thanks, Will. The big one is probably the biggest crab apple I've ever seen.
Do you not think it's sitting a bit too low in the pot?

Looks like it could be raised up a little and you could do this now as long as the rootball is solid but it's not a problem for 1 year

I'd rather do it next year. Needs re potting anyway.

Thanks.

Faisal my friend I will take that big craptree from your hands

Is this some new cultivar that I was unaware of? Brown blossom, perhaps, with a rather unpleasant scent? I dread to think what the fruit tastes like

F. Waheedy wrote:

landerloos wrote:Faisal my friend I will take that big craptree from your hands
I will get it in flower for sure in a couple of years.

Peter

All yours, Peter. When do you wanna come around to pick it up :-))

Be carefull what you say to me Faisal, you never know, one day the doorbell rings....... and I am at your place

Peter

Harleyrider wrote:

Faisal my friend I will take that big craptree from your hands

Is this some new cultivar that I was unaware of? Brown blossom, perhaps, with a rather unpleasant scent? I dread to think what the fruit tastes like

I did it on purpose you know, crap tree

Hi Faisal,

The big one is of course a he££ of a thing but the small one will need quite a bit of work imo.

I bought one many years back - an imported air layer iirc - and apart from great flowers ( now-ish) and great apples in autumn I have a found it difficult to do anything with even after a long period of ground growing.

Doesn't seem to want to ramify and breaks readily when I try to wire it-worse than a Kiyohime Maple

This of course could be down to the particular type of malus.

Here it a few years back but hasn't changed much.

Mind you, my wife likes it coz it has flowers



thks

TimR