Crab apples as pollinisers
Crab apples can be used as an alternative to apple varieties as pollinisers because they flower profusely and produce compatible pollen. They also have some advantages over commercial varieties as pollinisers because they:
- are not easily mistaken by pickers for the main variety, which helps prevent accidents and unnecessary work at hand-thinning and harvesting
- have an upright growth habit, enabling them to be inter-planted in rows in some situations
- generally have a long flowering period
- flower on spurs and one-year old wood. This means they can be pruned each year without fear of a severe reduction in the level of flowering.
Research in the United States and at Orange, New South Wales, suggests that bees tend to prefer flowers of the same colour when they are foraging and have a tendency to fly past flowers that have a very different colour. It is therefore advisable to select crab apples with a similar flower colour to the variety you are trying to pollinate.
Contact your local fruit tree supplier to determine what crab apple varieties are available, their flower colour and flowering times.
Harvesting apples at Manjimup, Western Australia