North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[sherwin <sherwindu@att.net>]

   In my limited experience, I have never tasted a sweet crab apple, 
but evidently they do
   exist.  The people I know who grow them, use them for canning or 
cider, not for eating
   off the tree.  The crab apples I have seen have thick tough skins, 
but again I have not
   seen all cultivars of this fruit.

   Among the dozen or so apple varieties I grow, it seems like the bugs 
prefer the sweeter
   apples.  They also avoid some of the tougher skinned varieties like 
Spigold.  These are
   just some of my limited observations, and I realize there could be 
exceptions to what
   I have experienced.  I don't grow them, but several members of my 
club Midfex do. and
   I have tasted many of  them.

                           Sherwin Dubren

On 4/8/2014 11:41 AM, Lee Reich wrote:
> By definition, a "crab apple" is any variety bearing small fruit, less than 2-1/4" 
> diameter. "Crab" says nothing of the species or flavor.
>
> Lee Reich, PhD
> Come visit my farmden at http://leereich.blogspot.com/
> http://leereich.com/
>
> Books by Lee Reich:
> A Northeast Gardener's Year
> The Pruning Book
> Weedless Gardening
> Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
> Landscaping with Fruit
> Grow Fruit Naturally
>
> On Apr 8, 2014, at 10:50 AM, Dr. Lucky Pittman wrote:
>
> > I'm not so sure the sugar content idea is salient, Sherwin.
> > I don't have a brix-ometer, but Centennial and Jim Bastian's Orange Crab are
> > two of the sweetest apples I grow.  Both crabs, and minimal insect damage,
> > compared to most larger apples.
> >
> > Lucky
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> > [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of sherwin
> > Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 7:09 PM
> > To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio
> > Subject: Re: [nafex] Crab apple disease resistance
> >
> > Why so few crab apples have curculio, apple maggot or coddling moth? I don't
> > know. But we do observe it.
> >
> > Richard,
> >
> > I would think that the usually tougher skin of the crab apples and their
> > lower sugar content would play a big role in their not attracting these
> > pests.
> >
> >                     Sherwin Dubren
> >                    Morton Grove, IL
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