Crab Apple

I think if Newton had been sitting under a Crapapple tree,I'm sure he would have been preoccupied with cleaning his clothes rather than getting on with his theory of gravity.

will baddeley wrote:I think if Newton had been sitting under a Crapapple tree,I'm sure he would have been preoccupied with cleaning his clothes rather than getting on with his theory of gravity.

Hi Tim,

Did you ever plant your tree in the ground?
It's a nice tree but don't think it developed much in all those years.
I've planted mine in the ground and will let it grow for a good few years
before doing anything to it.

Regards,

Faisal

Hello,

Malus graft well. Perhaps you could graft fruiting branches of other apples onto your tree. This will also speed up developement and you can enjoy flowers and fruits.

Getting a wild apple or a named cultivar to flower is never easy esp. in a pot. With that said - there are a number of things that you can do to try and increase your chances of flowering;

- Do not over prune the tree - that is you need to build a framework of branches and let these mature a bit.
- Do not over fertilizer with heavy Nitrogen fertilizers - try using a Phosphate fertilizer later in the season.
- Never let the tree really dry out, esp. in the summer or even in the early Fall. If the tree drops it leaves early [from heat stress] it probably will not flower that year.
- Do not be too anxious to repot - that is if the tree is somewhat rootbound - it reacts many times by flowering. This certainly works with Wisteria where a root bound tree reacts this way.

The larger of the two apples is impressive - but it needs a much larger canopy which will come in time. From the photo - many of the shoots look like newer shoots - these will take a number of years - if left alone to flower. It could take another 5 years or so to really get a full canopy and by this time - you may start to see flowers. With a trunk this size and quality - it is certainly worth the effort and the wait. Regards and best wishes from NY...Tom