collected crabapple

[Tachigi]

Originally Posted by catfish chapstick

does anyone have any advice about making it fruit??
i want the fruit!

Wait 10 to 15 years! Crabs need to be mature to bear fruit. My guess is you have a 4 to 7 year old tree so you have a bit to go.

[rockm]

you sure it's a crabapple and not just an apple? Apple trees that have naturalized are notorious for being very stingy with blossoms and fruit. Even some cultivated apples don't fruit all that well and have to be kicked in the pants from time to time with pruning.

Throw in inappropriate pruning by owners and blossoms can be even rarer. Apples bloom on "old wood" in specific areas on the tree--specific growth areas of old wood called "spurs." it can take some time to recognize flowering spurs, too. Pruning new growth at the wrong time, or old growth at any time, can reduce or even eliminate blooms--and fruit.

Having had an old apple that simply refused to bloom no matter what I did, I sold it off. Wish I hadn't, as it was simply a nice tree, even without the blossoms.

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-t...pple-trees.htm

Additionally, some crabs flower and fruit TOO much. Should remember that fruit production can take a lot out of a tree, especially in a container...Crab bonsai have been known to wear themselves out in a single season when their owners failed to thin out the fruit.

[catfish chapstick]

Originally Posted by rockm

you sure it's a crabapple and not just an apple? Apple trees that have naturalized are notorious for being very stingy with blossoms and fruit. Even some cultivated apples don't fruit all that well and have to be kicked in the pants from time to time with pruning.

Throw in inappropriate pruning by owners and blossoms can be even rarer. Apples bloom on "old wood" in specific areas on the tree--specific growth areas of old wood called "spurs." it can take some time to recognize flowering spurs, too. Pruning new growth at the wrong time, or old growth at any time, can reduce or even eliminate blooms--and fruit.

Having had an old apple that simply refused to bloom no matter what I did, I sold it off. Wish I hadn't, as it was simply a nice tree, even without the blossoms.

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-t...pple-trees.htm

Additionally, some crabs flower and fruit TOO much. Should remember that fruit production can take a lot out of a tree, especially in a container...Crab bonsai have been known to wear themselves out in a single season when their owners failed to thin out the fruit.

thankyou rockm

no i'm not sure it's a crabapple and not just an apple. i'm not sure of anything. what i think is that its much older than you would guess, having had its growth stunted by generations upon generations of aphids or some other critter feeding on it (i have searched the area where i found this tree and surrounding areas and i'm not seeing anything else this contorted). thanks for the article, i also think i pruned it too hard and too late last year (inappropriately) and that if i let it rest it will probably produce flowers next spring. i only think its a crab because it seems hardy, i left it outside in its pot all winter with no protection. again i'm not sure of anything.

so how can i identify this tree? by its fruit? if it flowers will it fruit? how old is old wood?

Wait 10 to 15 years! Crabs need to be mature to bear fruit. My guess is you have a 4 to 7 year old tree so you have a bit to go.

i'm not sure but i believe this tree is much older than four. its going on two years in a pot. at the nursery i work at we have four and five year old apples. my tree is considerably much bulkier than this and the nursery ones are grown very quickly for the sake of profit. idk if you can tell from the earlier photo but some of the branches i removed were two and three inches thick and i think the tree grew as if it had been damaged repeatedly. idk tho. if the tree really did grow its whole life stunted i think it could be old enough to fruit although if it only fruits on "old wood" the only old wood is on the trunk--you're probably right tho. just need to wait a bit.

[John Ruger]

Really nice tree...one thing to bear in mind is that before you get any fruit, it needs to flower and for that you'll have to wait until spring (usually April)-just make sure that you feed it really well and get it plenty of sunlight. Also, it will need to be pollinated. As for the type? I really think that you'll have to wait and see what opens up in the spring...I mean these things can produce a variety of flowers from prink turning to white, red turning to white, or just white etc...

Good luck with it

[Zach Smith]

Very nice material. I think view #3 shows the most graceful movement, and helps to soften that fairly abrupt direction change in the trunk. All in all, though, this tree has great potential.

Zach

[catfish chapstick]

Originally Posted by John Ruger

Really nice tree...one thing to bear in mind is that before you get any fruit, it needs to flower and for that you'll have to wait until spring (usually April)-just make sure that you feed it really well and get it plenty of sunlight. Also, it will need to be pollinated. As for the type? I really think that you'll have to wait and see what opens up in the spring...I mean these things can produce a variety of flowers from prink turning to white, red turning to white, or just white etc...

Good luck with it

thanks, it had one flower the year i collected it. pink bud that opened a white flower. so long as it flowers and gets pollinated the fruit will follow?

[John Ruger]

yeah, you got to have good pollination to get a nice fruit crop or else you'll loose it (fruit) early...like beginning of summer drop. You know, check out the website for evergreen garden works. They have really comprehensive information re: the various crabapple types; hopefully, you can find a match. Just remember, feed it really well for the rest of this growing season because that is what is going to determine what happens next year.

There is something that I have done to get a stubborn bud to grow. What I did is underneath the bud I cut an incision. The idea behind it is that this would slow the downward flow of sap and it accumulates above the incision and provides more in the way of added nutrients to the bud...it worked like a charm. I think it may work as well if you want to produce fruit-as long as it's pollinated. I guess if you're nuts like I am, take a gamble on one branch and see what happens.

[catfish chapstick]

Originally Posted by John Ruger

yeah, you got to have good pollination to get a nice fruit crop or else you'll loose it (fruit) early...like beginning of summer drop. You know, check out the website for evergreen garden works. They have really comprehensive information re: the various crabapple types; hopefully, you can find a match. Just remember, feed it really well for the rest of this growing season because that is what is going to determine what happens next year.

There is something that I have done to get a stubborn bud to grow. What I did is underneath the bud I cut an incision. The idea behind it is that this would slow the downward flow of sap and it accumulates above the incision and provides more in the way of added nutrients to the bud...it worked like a charm. I think it may work as well if you want to produce fruit-as long as it's pollinated. I guess if you're nuts like I am, take a gamble on one branch and see what happens.

that is a very interesting idea.

[John Ruger]

Originally Posted by catfish chapstick

that is a very interesting idea.

I think that what you'll have to do to get fruit is similar to ringbarking. Except in this case ring it on three sides (left, right and underneath).