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The-Element
Everything bonsai
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| Apples and crabapples come in a profusion of varieties, most bearing lovely flowers and attractive, sometimes edible, fruit. They have alternate, toothed leaves, bear flowers in early to mid spring, and set fruit in late summer to early fall. The varieties range in height from 8-40 feet, and come in a number of growth habits. Due to their hardiness and ability to grow in difficult soils, Malus varieties are becoming a common sight along city streets. | |||||||||||
| Lighting: | Full sun or semi-shade; needs protection from full summer sun. | ||||||||||
| Temperature: | Withstands cold well - hardy in zones 2-8, depending on variety. | ||||||||||
| Watering: | Moderate - do not allow the soil to dry out completely.Requires plenty of water when fruiting, or the apples will shrivel and drop. Do not mist, as this encourages mildew. | ||||||||||
| Feeding: | Resnick says weekly in spring-early fall, using dilute manure tea or general purpose fertilizer. Tomlinson recommends discontinuing feeding from the beginning of flowering until the fruits are set, to discourage leafy growth that will occur at the expense of fruits and flowers. Most texts encourage heavy feeding to provide nutrients for fruit and flower production. Simon and Schuster's and Murata disagree with this practice, preferring to feed sparingly to reduce the rapid growth of the tree. S&S recommends feeding at 20-30 day intervals for M. halliana and every 15-20 days for M. pumila. A good sprinkling of bonemeal in the fall promotes fruiting. | ||||||||||
| Repotting: | In early spring after flowering, or in early autumn. Repot every 1-2 years; M. halliana may require yearly repotting.Crabapples need root space, so a deep pot should be used. Likes well-drained, slightly alkaline soil. | ||||||||||
| Styling: | Prune sub-branches by mid-August, if you wish to encourage flower bud formation instead of leaf and stem growth. Tips can be pruned as needed, reducing new shoots to two buds. In general, wiring can be done from spring to autumn, protecting the bark. Simon and Schuster's recommends wiring M. pumila from spring to summer only. It is wise to wait a few months to wire crabapples after repotting. Suitable for all sizes, but for shohin, pick varieties with especially small fruit. Does not work well styled as cascade or broom. | ||||||||||
| Propagation: | From seed (requires cold pre-treatment) or air-layering. Crabapples are commonly propagated by grafting, but for bonsai use, care must be taken that a specimen does not exhibit an ugly graft scar. Crabapples can be grown from root cuttings (see "Creating Crabaple Bonsai from Root Cutings," in "International Bonsai" 1994/issue 1.) Many crabapples also sucker up from the roots, and the suckers may be seperated from the roots in the fall or in the following spring from their formation. Brent provides extensive information on cuttings from young crabapple growth, which I will quote directly: >Most crabapples are very easy to propagate from cuttings given>the right conditions. This depends very much on the cultivar and species.>Juvenile plants are pretty much essential for vigorous cuttings. Older>plants can be induced to sprout juvenile type growth through hard pruning>the previous winter. Malus coronaria species and cultivars are quite>difficult from cuttings. Other difficult cultivars are 'Royalty', 'Dolgo',>and 'Cardinal'. The last two have intermediate sized fruit, about two>inches, so it is unfortunate that they don't root easily.>Most of the smaller fruited cultivars seem to root with little difficulty.>Cuttings are taken at the semi-hardwood stage from May to August depending>on your climate and the weather. Take six inch cuttings with three nodes or>more, wounding is beneficial for most, and treat with a medium strength>hormone. I use Hormex #8, 0.8% IBA. Reduce the leaf surface by cutting each>leaf by one half to two thirds. I find that this works better than removing>entire leaves.>Keep the leaves moist with automatic mist or with a poly tent or put them in>an area that stays cool and moist. The greatest danger is drying out. Some>will root in a few weeks, but it is more likely the majority will root over>the winter. Your can tell when they are rooted when they throw a vigorous>new shoot. You may have to remove the rooted cuttings from the flat as they>root or they roots will completely colonize the flat or pot and restrict the>root growth of the laggards. | ||||||||||
| Pests: | Very vulnerable to insects and fungal diseases, especially wooly aphids (die die die die die!!!) and powdery mildew.Red spider mites, winter moth, caterpilars, greenfly, scale, scab, apple canker, brown rot, crown-gall and bacterial fireblight are all problems which can beset the crabapple. Disease ressitant vareities are available, and since almost all crabs bear lovely flowers, it is wise to select a cultivar which resists the pests found in your area. Geoline has a special warning about growing crabapples (and other species such as ginkgos, hawthornes, quince etc.) near junipers: >Apples and junipers carry rust fungi (Gymnosporangium) which need these two>types of plants to complete their life cycles. Crab apples are susceptible>to Cedar-Apple Rust (G. juniperi-virgi), Quince Rust (G. clavipes) and>Hawthorn Rust (G. globosum). Malus sylvestris is susceptible to rusts, but>is able to survive infections if treated immediately. Best bet is to keep>apples and junipers far away from each other so that the rusts do not>complete their destructive life cycles. You might need to make a choice>between Apples or Junipers if you have a small growing area. There are>funcides like Zyban, Bayleton, Mancozeb and Banner which can be used in the>treatment of rust diseases. | ||||||||||
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