And filled my pocket with them. Got 150ish seeds and going to stratify them in the fridge. Hoping I get a decent yield of starters. Would love to have these on the property.
Found a Wild Crabapple
- Thread starter Ski
- Start date
Those look like Thorn apples or maybe hawthorns. At least that's what we called them when I was a kid. The wild crab apples I remember were a little smaller than a golf ball, green and waxy.
You're probably right. Some type of hawthorn is probably what they are but the leaves don't look like the hawthorns I know from up north. These look like apple leaves. Fruit tastes like apples, too, but they do look exactly like hawthorns. I put a camera on the tree to see if deer are eating the fruit. Something's eating it as there weren't many on the ground. Curious if it's deer or other critters.
I will. I've done a lot of apples this way and had pretty fair success, but never had any luck with persimmons yet. I've even tried the peroxide wash but so far no bueno. Got a few dozen seeds in fridge now so we'll see if it pans out this time. Also trying keiffer pears right now. Never did a pear like this and have no idea what to expect, but I'm trying it. Doesn't cost anything but a ziploc bag & paper towel to find out.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Very cool regardless. We used to have a little grove of them on our place (about 5-6 of them). They died out a few years ago though.
Did deer eat them?
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Could have been mislabeled or could have been a graft that didn't survive but the crab host did. Most apples, especially dwarf varieties are grafted onto crabapple stems.
I've only done the damp paper towel in zip lock bag method. They sit in the fridge over winter and by around Valentines day they have little root sprouts.
From there i use the veggie seed starter trays from the hardware store, set them in a south facing window, and within a few days they have stems with green leaves. When they get a couple inches tall I put each entire starter in its own cardboard pint size cup with potting soil. The cups all go in a clear tote and stay in front of the window until it's warm enough to bring them outside during the day.
In May when no longer danger of frost, I plant the entire cup and all where the tree will be forever. The cup biodegrades and helps feed the roots.
I've heard you can simply plant the seeds and they'll sprout in spring but I've not tried it. I've also not tried planting them in pots without stratification. Guess I could try and see how it goes.
That should work just fine. Be sure to report how it goes, anything you learn!
Haven't planted them yet. Waiting for them to go dormant. Got some pear and plum trees too I'm waiting for.
Swampster
Well-Known Member
Swampster
Well-Known Member
I've come across an old apple tree, and a couple of abandoned old orchards while hiking in the Appalachians. I was surprised to see the large number of apples on the ground. I would have thought the bears, deer, and other animals would have kept them cleaned up. It was always a welcome surprise after eating backpack food for several days.
I haven't but I've heard it works.
Turns out deer seem to love them, whatever exactly they are. The tree on the left is it. It's growing on edge between cattle pasture and mature timber and has a couple canopy branches that hang way out westward where the deer on the right are. They're all eating the fallen fruit. Got a bunch of pics day & night. Might have to snag another pocket full of fruits and start some more seedlings! Hard to beat a fruit tree that's dropping last week of October into the rut!
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
It's funner than hunting. But my "plan" has been adjusted so much it's barely even recognizable. With each task and each season i learn something that steers me in directions I hadn't yet considered.
I will say this though. Habitat work has taught me more about deer and hunting them than a lifetime of deer hunting has.
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
Oh man in many ways. I guess a simple way to explain it would be like having your own personal wild deer lab where you get to monitor the same deer year after year, and experiment with manipulating their world to see how they respond. Totally different than just watching a random deer I see while hunting, then guessing about where it came from and why.
