Is this a Crabapple 'Tina'?

emilias_garden

Hello! I have been cultivating this little tree for the last year. I bought it and is labelled as Crabapple 'Tina' ( Malus sargentii 'Tina'). I have been looking in the Net for more information and pictures and none of the pictures or leaf-descriptions i have found about Crabapple 'Tina' is similar to my little tree.

What i have seen and read about 'Tina' is that it has elliptical leaves, but mine has lobed leaves.

Can somebody tell me if i have the correct tree? Or if this leaves are only unmature tree leaves and they will turn elliptical as the tree matures? Or if it is that this is another species under the Malus genus? Or any other genus?



I know the pciture is of a very low quality, but i cannot help the curiosity about the real ID of my little tree. I am expecting a new Digital Camera to arrive in the mail soon, so i will have good quality pics soon.

Thank you!
Jorge Joel...
Emilia's Garden

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Brent

Jorge

It could be 'Tina', it has leaves exactly like this, but then so do a lot of other crabs. You will never make a positive ID from the leaves alone. You need leaves, flowers, fruit, and growth habit. The fruit is exactly the same as M. sargentii, solid red, about 1/4 it 3/8 inch in diameter. Flowers are red quickly turning to white so any spray of flowers almost looks like a candy cane, it is quite distinctive. Growth habit is very low and shrubby. One of the smallest and slowest growing crabs. It may take several years for you to confirm all this.

Brent
EvegreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com

emilias_garden

Hello Brent! Thank you very much for the info and your help!


The truth is that i was more concerned in knowing if my litle tree was indeed a Crabapple than the variety. Now that you gave me the confirmation that it is a Crabapple, i can wait patiently for the flowers to confirm its variety


I do not know much about Crabapples, since these are exotics trees for me (I am in Puerto Rico). That is why i was a little lost about recognizing this tree. I will see how this one will act here this Fall and Winter and if it does well, i think i will obtain more Crabapples in Spring. They are really nice trees.

Thank you so very much!
Jorge Joel...
Emilia's Garden

Brent

Jorge

Sorry, I didn't notice your location. Better to stick with this one crab for a year or so before buying others. Crabs are temperate climate plants and require a cold dormant period both to survive and to flower and fruit. It's still small, so you can stick it in the refrigerator for six weeks and then give it an early spring. See the article on Dormancy at my website for more information.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com

emilias_garden

Hey Brent! Thank you for your advice!

I'll tell you my story, so you can understand what i am doing having a Crabapple in the middle of the Caribbean.

I have been experimenting with temperate trees (broadleaf decidious trees and conifers) and temperate plants like Sarracenia or North Amercian Pitcher Plants, Temeprate Aroids and others, here in Page Ranking for the last years. My motivation has been simply to have these marvelous plants here in the Caribbean to enjoy them. I am not the only one that is doing this here in PR, i even know a Farm that is cultivating for comertial purpose Apples and Apricots with a very high success. I have tasted their Apricots and they are as delicious as the ones cultivated in the Continent.

Anyways, to share my methods and experimentations here are the details of my cultivation:

I have 2 diffent places where i cultivate them, here in coastal San Juan City and in the northern central mountains (Camuy). In San Juan temperatures will range from 70'sF to 50's F from late Autumn to Winter. In Camuy temperatures will go from 60'sF to 40's F in these seasons. We have wet Autumns and dry Winters. As for the photoperiods in Autumn and Winter it is 4 hours shorter than in the rest ofthe year, and the angle of the Sun in the Sky produce a weaker light. Not as strong as in Summer.

Here in San Juan i have Sugar Maples, Silver Maples, Zelkovas, American Elms, Okame Cherries, Apricots, Chinese Quinces, Japanese Quinces, Wisterias and many mores. In Camuy i have Japanese Maples and Gingkos. All of them have produced in Autumn change of coloration in the leaves and drop them, entering into drormancy from November to February. This dormancy has always been caused naturaly, no chemicals or any artificial method. In cooler and dry Autumns i have had beautiful coloration in my trees, oranges, reds and yellows. In wet and warmer Autumns, like this one, the leaves just simply turn brown or dark yellow.

Then in february, as the photoperiod increases and the temperatures warm up all of my temperate trees break dormancy and produce the new growth. So far most of them have not produced flowers or fruits, but the reason why is that most of my trees are still young. In the other hand, my Quinces, both, Japanese and Chinese have produced flowers and fruits for me.

My last additions to this experimentation have been this Crabapple, a Japanese Hornbeam and some Oaks. And i agree with you that i will need to wait for a couple of years to see how they act and react in their new environment.

As for the conifers, I have Japanese Black Pines, Leyland Cypresses, Bald Cypresses, Junipers, and Japanese Cedars. They all stop growth in these same seasons and then resume growth as Spring approaches.

For me it is really amazing to be able to cultivate all of these temperate trees here in the Caribbean. It is really exciting.

Cheers,
Jorge Joel...
Emilia's Garden

Brent

Jorge

That is pretty exciting stuff. Keep us posted on your results. Chaenomeles seem to have really low dormancy requirements and need few chill hours for flowers and fruit. Japanese black pines will thrive there, we know of others who are raising them there.

In general, the Prunus species will have fewer hours of chill requirement than species like apples. Which brings me to this point. You may have enough seasonal variation for some species to live and even thrive there, as evidenced by your plants showing fall color and seasonal shifts. But the other issue is the required number of chill hours below 40F for flower bud formation and of course fruit. These numbers are quite well known for a number of commercial fruit species, and should be available somewhere on the internet if you do a google search for them.

I would be very interested in your results for flowers and fruit. Please keep us posted, or email me directly.

Thanks!

Brent