Pollinator for pink lady apple tree - Ask Extension
Do fruitless flowering crab apple trees make good pollinators for other apple trees?
(I'm up to speed on the birds & bees in general, but not sur...
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Pollinator for pink lady apple tree #549921
Asked March 30, 2019, 3:06 PM EDT
Do fruitless flowering crab apple trees make good pollinators for other apple trees?
(I'm up to speed on the birds & bees in general, but not sure if the fruitless characteristic of the fruitless flowering crab apple is due to a fundamental sterility or some other defect that still allows the crab apple to provide useful pollen.)
Multnomah County Oregon
Expert Response
This is an interesting question. I still don't have a good answer. Will reach out to some apple breeders in Washington tomorrow. I have discovered that the "fruitless crab apples" like the cultivar Spring Snow are not listed as pollinators in standard apple orchards while many other crabs are. But the question as to whether there is still something worthwhile for the bees is an open question. Will let you know what I find out. Chip
Chip Bubl OSU Extension/Columbia County <personal data hidden>
I got an email back from the major apple breeder in WSU yesterday and she doesn't know the biological reason they are unfruitful. So I am sticking with my original answer to not count on them for pollination. She suggestged one other specialist that I could contact so will do that next week. Chip
Chip:
Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. I am eager to proceed and will probably go ahead with a fruiting variety of crab as a pollinator. I think I can place a fruiting crab in a location where the pollen will be available to bees for my Pink Lady trees, fruit will be available to wildlife, but fruit on the ground will not be a mess I have to worry about. In the place where I was going to place the fruitless crab, fruit on the ground would be a pain in the neck, so I will just leave that spot open until I can find out. I will keep on looking here.
Jim
Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. I am eager to proceed and will probably go ahead with a fruiting variety of crab as a pollinator. I think I can place a fruiting crab in a location where the pollen will be available to bees for my Pink Lady trees, fruit will be available to wildlife, but fruit on the ground will not be a mess I have to worry about. In the place where I was going to place the fruitless crab, fruit on the ground would be a pain in the neck, so I will just leave that spot open until I can find out. I will keep on looking here.
Jim
