Crabapple; how long till it flowers?

Sandi

I posted this question in species specific, but haven't heard from anyone yet so I moved it here. Someone must be able to tell me how long does it takes a crabapple seedling to flower? I have a 4yr old that hasn't flowered yet. I also have a flowering apricot that is 6yrs old that hasn't flowered either. I heard it could take 10 years. Is that true? I'm getting anxious for fruit. I have a grafted crabapple that has flowered every year since I got it, but the graft isn't very attractive.

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TreeBay

I saw your question and went looking for my book on flowering crabapples and got sidetracked. Bill Valavanis had a crab that was flowering and it was featured in his Creation Pruning sections of International Bonsai for several years running. It stopped flowering after the cutback and he was told it had to reach a certain number of nodes before it would flower again, so he was going to experiment with not pruning it for a few years.

Wisteria can take decades to flower from seed, and one reason why a lot of these species are propagated by grafting.

You might drop Brent Walston an email. He has a nice page on crabapples here

Regards,

Matt

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Sandi

Thanks Matt. That is a great website. I emailed a question and got an answer within hours. FYI: Malus can take from ten to twentyfive years to flower from seed. Apricots will flower in six to seven years. I think I'll plant my crabapple in the yard and order a cutting grown one from evergreen gardenworks!

seeker

hey sandi,
I got myself a crabapple from the local garden centrerecently,
as I am a complete novice and foolish to boot, I chopped
about 80% of the roots away, planted it strait into a pot,
( a blue glazed round dish , which will contrast with the pink/red blossom) then I pruned it back HARD to about,
14" tall, with 3 to 4" branches and stuck it outside to the mercy of our late frosts.
It was probably an air layer because there is no sign of
a grafting onto a rootstock and the trunk is 3.5" circumfrence
at the base to 1" at the apex.
today I have noted that buds are appearing all over the
tree, so I now wait with bated breath to see what will
happen next.
I cannot do pictures at the moment due to tecnicals,
but when the situation is resolved , I will post for critique.
I hope I have not done too much damage to my little
darling, and wish you many blossom and fruit.

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LOVE AND PEACE,RICK.