Wickson Crab crab apple tree

Malus domestica 'Wickson Crab'

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• Picking season: Late
• Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
• Pollination group: 2
• List of other varieties that will pollinate Wickson Crab

Wickson crab is a popular crab apple variety which is also useful in cider blends.

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Wickson Crab crab apple trees for sale

• 1Medium 1-year bare-root tree $35.95
  Mature height: 8ft-12ft after 10 years
  Semi-dwarf rootstock
  

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• 2Large 1-year bare-root tree $35.95
  Mature height: 10ft-16ft after 10 years
  B.118 rootstock
  

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Wickson Crab is a popular crab apple with dense white blossom followed by attractive pink/red flushed apples, which are large by crab-apple standrds.

Wickson Crab apples contain plenty of pectin and are therefore useful in the kitchen for jams and jellies.

Unusually for a crab apple, Wickson Crab is also quite sweet. The high sugar content is balanced by a strong acid content, and this unusual combination makes the juice of Wickson Crab very useful in cider blends.

How to grow

Wickson Crab is a small and hardy tree.

It has a wide climate range, and is suitable for both northern areas and warm climates such as southern California.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Wickson was developed by the Californian apple enthusiast Albert Etter and released in 1947. Etter named the variety after Californian pomologist Edward J. Wickson who was one of the few experts at the time who took Etter's breeding program seriously.

Etter claimed that Wickson Crab was developed from Spitzenburg crab and Newtown crab, although no such varieties exist, and it is thought there is no relation with the mainstream apple varieties Esopus Spitzenburg and Newtown Pippin. A more likely parent would have been Transcendent Crab, which Etter is known to have used in his Etter's Gold variety, and which shares many similar characterstics.

Wickson Crab characteristics

• Gardening skillAverage
• Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
• Pollination group2
• Pollinating othersGood
• PloidyDiploid
• Bearing regularityRegular
• WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators
• Picking seasonLate
• UsesJuiceHard cider
• CroppingHeavy
• Keeping (of fruit)2-3 weeks
• ScabSome susceptibility
• Cedar apple rustSome susceptibility
• Cold hardiness (USDA)(5) -20F / -29C
• Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)Hot (>30C / 86F)
• Fruit colorOrange / Red

Similar varieties

• Transcendent Crab
  A large-fruited crab apple, cold-hard, and makes excellent crab-apple jam.