My Newtowns all rotted this year, very unusual. It is definitely more prone to summer rots than most varieties but I never had it that bad. I didn’t spray from July and it looks like it needs more than that in my climate. Or maybe it was just a bad luck year.
Scott,
I saw a lot of fruit rot this year in general. I’m going to chalk it up to the year since I used 3 copper sprays and fungicides such as captan, immunox, Monterrey fungi fighter on a regular basis. I really have no explanation for it.
I have to admit that my criteria for choosing an apple (consistent cropper, flavor, disease resistance, and storage) start to slide when evaluating Sweet Sixteen. Now since re-evaluating some of the apple varieties with respect to timeline, I only have Sweet Sixteen, Pixie Crunch, and Fuji “Daybreak” for the mid-to-early September season. I would entertain Pomme Gris if I could find it in a semi-dwarf rootstock. I am avoiding summer apples as I hope to be eating stone fruits at that time. Can anyone speak to a side-by-side comparison of Sweet Sixteen vs. Pixie Crunch vs. Fuji Daybreak? Better alternatives for early-to-mid September in PA?
Here, for me, Enterprise is an October apple
Sure is a healthy tree and the fruit keeps well, but the coarse skin is a real disadvantage, other than for baking
Pomme Gris is much later, mine are just coming in now. I have not yet fruited the ones you mention. The only early-mid season apple I am excited about now is Ginger Gold. You can pick it earlier but I am finding they are better later mid-Sept. I am also liking Cherryville Black but I don’t have a good graft of it going so am not sure how consistent it is going to be.
Thanks Scott- All I could really find on Pomme Gris was “September harvest.” It sounds like it is later than I had imagined. I will follow-up on Ginger Gold. I am having a hard time finding red apples in my search!
There is always Gala, if you like sweeter apples. It is super dependable and tastes much better off the tree than the too-early harvested store version. It is similar to Golden Delicious in that it is a world-class apple dragged down by poor grocery store fruit.
1 Like
I think I may have found a winner for the early apple (September): Chestnut Crab. Prolific, tasty, and very disease resistant (and red colored). Heck, from what I read they even store quite well for a crab. The kids will like the novelty of the small apples. I think that a crab might be a bit more tolerant of the pm shade that I am going to give it too. Boyers Nursery lists it on their webpage.
Scott, I do have one more question for you. In my Mid-October time slot I have Newtown Pippin in the lead, but I am also considering Smokehouse. From what I have read, they are both very flavorful, but the internet consensus points to Newtown as better. I am also concerned about consistent cropping. Newton appears to have a tendency to go biennial, whereas Smokehouse is a precocious tree that tends to stay annual- does this correspond with your experience? Also, can you tell me more about the skin problems that you had on the Smokehouse?
Has anyone else had a better experience with Smokehouse than Scott?
If you are comparing to Newtown they both have skin issues, by which I mean spotting and rotting. This year Smokehouse fared much better than Newtown on that front. Smokehouse is earlier, its late Sept for me. Smokehouse has classic apple taste, it tastes like cider on the tree. Its definitely precocious/reliable. I cut down my tree but it grew back on its own and started making apples on the one branch I let it keep. I figured it had a will to live so I have kept it.
Chestnut sounds like a good choice. I had fake Chestnut and finally got the real one this last spring.
1 Like
Smokehouse is good but not a fave for me. Gala is one of my all time least- I would never put the bland thing in my orchard. It must be better further south but here there is no trace of its Cox parent. Every commercial Hudson Valley grower has a high percentage of Gala because they are almost as reliable as Liberty at cropping and most consumers don’t object to it, apparently.
By the way, Jonathon is a really nice apple in about Gala’s season. If you don’t get FB it is pretty easy to grow, bears young and reliably.
I agree about Smokehouse, thats why I chopped it down.
Gala is not bland at all here. It is similar to Kidds Orange Red which is a parent. I had the two growing side by side for several years and had several taste comparisons. Kidds is better in that it is more intense, but Gala has similar aromatics to Kidds. There are many Gala sports and some are not very good or so I have heard. Nearly any Gala you buy today is one of the sports, not the original.
1 Like
For whatever reason Blondee (supposedly a yellow Gala sport) gets to 16 brix here. I had one tonight with that brix (not from my orchard) and it definitely had a “honeyed” flavor. It was about the same flavor last year. If someone was looking for a sweet apple with that Gala reliability, I’d recommend it.
Blondee is really good.
I am in zone 6a and Arkansas Black does great in my orchard. However, he seems to want an apple than you can pick right off the tree. That is NOT arkansas black. Might don’t soften up until January.
Great apple though. I was eating the last of mine in April and they were awesome.
1 Like
[quote=“ZombieFruit, post:108, topic:3190”]
I think I may have found a winner for the early apple (September) [/quote]
Have you considered Alkmene?
That kind of reasoning got us Hawkeye Delicious.
1 Like
Mr Z., For a mid season apple may I suggest Chieftain. Very tasty, red, great cropper, good keeper, good cooker, and is very disease clean in my orchard. Check out what Cummins and Orangepippen have to say about it. My third leaf tree had 40 apples the size of my fist. Cummins has it on G935 and G11. G935 has been excellent for me in z5a/b.
Best, Chikn.
I order some Gala for my nursery every year because it is a strong growing tree with a very nice form. I have tried many strains of Gala over the years as Adams is always pushing something new, although I don’t know if I’ve ever tried the original. They all taste about the same to me at every site I’ve sampled them. I will stick to the theory that they do better under a stronger sun- just like Liberty.
I love this discussion list. Every time I think I have a good plan worked out, someone offers suggestions that make me question that plan.
Vohd: Alkmene looks like a great apple. I have been wanting to try some Cox progeny but I have had concerns about everything related to growing the apple, but never the flavor. From the description it seems more robust than most of the other Cox siblings. The early September timeline looks good, great flavor, fewer problems that other Cox siblings, annual bearer, not a good storage apple. I can live without a storage apple in September. However, my first priority is a tree that is a good consistent cropper. How does it do in that department?
I have seen some reports on Alkemene from different parts of the US, and lots of reviews out of Europe. Any growers in the Mid-Atlantic?
Chikn: Based on your description, Cheftain is a winner. It has all of the qualities that I am looking for. My only concern is that I cannot yet triangulate your experience with other growers/reviews. This could be a real diamond in the rough. It has now made my list of possibilities, and it would certainly move toward the top if others echo your experience.
Many growers in Ia. make much of their living on this apple. It is an apple that has not had much exposure outside of the state. Cummins, Orangepippin, and Salt Springs all speak highly of this apple. As I write this, I’m eating one, a really good apple. Because of computer difficulties I can’t post pics but if you’ll PM your cell phone #, I’ll send you a pic.