new2thisnow
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apple vs crab apple

We moved in last fall and one of the trees now had some fruit. They are clearly not fully developed now. We are trying to figure out if its a regular apple tree or a crab apple tree. Any input would be helpful.

new2thisnow
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new2thisnow
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JONA
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Difficult to tell at the moment...but there are a few clues that suggest to me that it’s a regular apple tree.
First is I would expect a crab to have far more fruits on it. Most crabs set fruit very willingly.
Secondly ..that stalk is rather long for most crabs. It has the appearance of either a Granny Smith a Golden Delicious or one of the many varieties with Golden as a parent.

new2thisnow
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Thanks. I will update as the season progresses. I hope it is a regular apple tree. Is there anything special I need to do to it? I fertalized all of the trees when we moved in. That was in September.

new2thisnow
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It looks like you are right. I got to thinking this morning, wondering how it pollinated without another apple nearby. I knew there were two trees in the yard that bloomed at the same time. So I went and looked at the other tree. I think it's a crabapple. If it's a regular apple they are pretty small.

No wonder our yard is yellow jacket ridden. We have strawberries, raspberries, roses and apples. All were there when we moved in. It's a fun yard, but I'd rather share with honeybees.
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new2thisnow
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applestar
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Did you say where you are located? Beginning of summer is the wrong time of the year for the yellow jackets to be attracted to fruits and sugars so much. They should be busy feeding caterpillars and other soft protein foods to their young.

They also tend to be less touchy because they are too busy... unless you disturb their nest.

Usually it’s around mid-end of summer when they have grown up and are all eating for themselves and maybe stockpiling the colony that they are more about sugar and spoiled fruits.

new2thisnow
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We are in the Denver area. They are not as nasty as they were when we moved in at the end of fall last year, but our yard is full of yellow jackets, and has been when ever its not super cold. We also have mud daubers and other wasps too. Very few honey bees. Something is eating a bunch of the leaves of plants so maybe there are caterpillars here. There are a ton of aphids and lady bugs for sure.

JONA
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Afraid you’ve already had an attack of Codling Moth by the look of it....that little fruitlet looks like it’s got a worm ( maggot) inside already.
Also...if it is of Golden parentage...your bound to get scab. So on future you may have to spray for some form of control.
Wait until the fall...and once we know what your tree really is..then we can talk about pruning and fert...etc.

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applestar
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As it might be obvious, I’m all about biodiversity. But I also think ecological balance is the key.

So if there are TOO MANY yellow jackets, then it’s up to you to make the decision to make adjustments since the next level predator is absent.

This is a good time to follow them to discover where they are nesting — keep your distance — and if the the nest is conveniently located, you can eliminate it in the depth of the winter when they are inactive/dormant.



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