Malus crabapple #1, #2

[Warpig]

These are three of the five seedlings @Mike Hennigan recently gave out that I received. The other two are still fine and doing their thing but were alittle thicker and have some growing out to do before making a post for. I know pot size will probably be mentioned but it's what I had on hand and will be looking to keep them small anyway.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Nice start! Good movement!

 

[0soyoung]

I know pot size will probably be mentioned but it's what I had on hand and will be looking to keep them small anyway.

Oh yah, "Its just a little Juko I had laying around"
But, I love it. I've got one too!
If I had a malus cutting I would do with it exactly what you've done and would be arrogantly proud of it.

IOW,

 

[Warpig]

Oh yah, "Its just a little Juko I had laying around"
But, I love it. I've got one too!
If I had a malus cutting I would do with it exactly what you've done and would be arrogantly proud of it.

IOW,

Thank you, coming from you @0soyoung that means alot. I do love that glaze. It goes so well with all the lighter shades with vibrant colors! This is the one I'm most looking forward too the most aswell. It's got some real nice buds starting to open.

 

[Warpig]

Bringing in these guys for last night and tonight has given me a good chance to check the wire on these and show a little green. The wire seems to show no signs of cutting in at all yet. Does anyone who has worked with these before know about how long I "should abouts" be looking to leave the wire on for?




The left one is surely the stronger of the two. I was starting to get worried about the right as the buds weren't showing much promise but it's finally coming around. The bad news is I'm not too happy with the bud placement much. What would be the best way to go about trying to get better placement from here?





And something fun to play around with.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Bringing in these guys for last night and tonight has given me a good chance to check the wire on these and show a little green. The wire seems to show no signs of cutting in at all yet. Does anyone who has worked with these before know about how long I "should abouts" be looking to leave the wire on for?

View attachment 296646


The left one is surely the stronger of the two. I was starting to get worried about the right as the buds weren't showing much promise but it's finally coming around. The bad news is I'm not too happy with the bud placement much. What would be the best way to go about trying to get better placement from here?

View attachment 296647



And something fun to play around with.

View attachment 296650

I wouldn’t do any adjusting of wire to get buds in better spots. I would just let them grow for now, new side branches later on can become new trunk lines if need be. When it comes to wire biting in, I wouldn’t worry about it too much until you see those shoots really start extending. That’s when you know the tree is picking up steam. And slight wire scars are ok on apples, they will eventually be rough barked and won’t hold tiny scars the way a Japanese maple would. In fact Nick Lenz suggests letting wire bite in on apples to encourage the development of rough bark faster but I haven’t really tested that out myself.

 

[mrt1]

I started a tray of malus crab about 3wks ago. So far so good. About an inch tall.