I’m pretty sure that I am located were HC ends up as only a medium quality apple. Two years ago I purchased a basket from a local orchard and I was disappointed. I now keep a lesser presence of this variety in my small orchard and devote more space to varieties that are high quality and grow well in my area.
I will say that low acid apples may have a decidedly ethnic appeal, but Honeycrisp is a cross-ethnic, number 1 chart buster.
Apparently HC does best north of z6
This has been my experience so far in zone 5b. It was excellent this past year, full of sweet tart juice. Out of all of my home grown apples this past year, it was my favorite. Other varieties I grew included Liberty, Crimson Topaz, Goldrush, Williams Pride, Golden and Red Delicious, and even stalwart Ashmead’s Kernel (last years favorite)
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Most of you would be fairly surprised by the top 15 commercial apples http://usapple.org/all-about-apples/apple-varieties/
McIntosh
Fuji
Red delicious
Gala
Crispin
Braeburn
Honeycrisp
Jonagold
Granny Smith
Empire
Golden delicious
Cameo
Jazz
Macoun
Ambrosia
Paula red
Crisps pink
Courtland
There are some good apples in there but do even one of them compare to the flavor of a wickson? I’ve had a few incredible Fuji and know how good that apple can be but 99% of the time it isn’t. Whole food market is enormously popular and their list is very similar http://m.wholefoodsmarket.com/department/article/your-guide-apple-varieties but they did add Gravenstein. Surprisingly on many apple lists honeycrisp ranks in the top 3 even though quality in recent years seems to be down.
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Does Goldrush get yellow ripe for you? Last year it wasn’t quite at its best here, perhaps because of a relatively late spring, but too much water for much of the season may also have been in play,.
My Goldrush do get yellow ripe, usually with a slight red blush on the sunny side and some with spots. I pick them very late, waiting for the first hard frost here, usually late November. They are an excellent apple in their own right, when you want knock-your-socks-off flavor. Plus they store really well in the basement fridge (I am rationing my small stored bag of Goldrush). Honeycrisp were my best right off the tree, while Goldrush are my best out of winter storage.
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Looks like Whole Foods may need to update their information, for Red Delicious:
“These apples are available year-round and still accounts for 80% of all apples grown in Washington.”
.
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Yes that’s very old data as can be seen here under history Red Delicious - Wikipedia. I bet rd is less than 20% by now and more are being top worked all the time.
In the '90’s it was maybe 70% but now only about 30% are Red D. http://extension.wsu.edu/chelan-douglas/agriculture/treefruit/horticulture/apples_in_washington_state/
Even this data is probably outdated. Honeycrisp has likely moved way up in the last 3 years.
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It’s interesting how late ripening varieties sometimes can ripen well further north. I think it has to do with the longer days of summer that compensate for a shorter season.
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That hasn’t been beneficial to me. Between a u-pick orchard and my tree, there has been unreliability in taste and storability. The later is more a of problem, with Bitter Pit being the issue. So far, I haven’t seen a Bitter Pit problem with any other apple variety.
I have spoken with some growers in Virginia that still have some Red Delicious and can not sell them so they give them to various homeless shelters.
perhaps not hurt feelings, but criticism here is getting lengthy and may soon ring hollow especially if hc is the only apple some folks can grow in their locations and happen to be best-tasting in their areas, compared to other apples grown in their areas.
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I am happy to hear you say this, it has been something I have been wondering about for a while. The days here are very long in the spring/summer and I was wondering if that could speed up fruit development slightly.
On the topic of HC I added a few scions last summer. I am hoping to eventually get a few fruit if it gets thru our cold winters. It seems to like the north so maybe it will be better than the ones I have tasted lately. For us it probably depends on where the stores source the HC apples.
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McIntosh because people buy applesauce, not because they crave the fresh apple.
Part of the reason the store-bought apples taste the same is about half of them have Yellow Delicious in their family tree. And most of the rest have Cox Orange Pippin, or Red Delicious. You don’t get too much variation when “cousins” keep marrying each other.
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I wouldn’t describe Honeycrisp as low acid.
Neither would I. That was part of my point if you read the comment again. Japanese apples like Fuji and Mutsu are low acid.
Got it. I read it a couple of times and wasn’t sure.
I have a HC tree growing. It is in the 5th greening this year. The actual tree trunking/rootstock is okay but the leaves always looks like it is deficient in nutrition. I am not impressed with the tree leaves and so fat the production has been a big ZERO. If I get no fruit from it this year I think I will either take it out or graft it out to something else. Not a fan of the fruit but my family liked the apples we tried at the local fruit farm at $4 a lb. I figured I would just grow my own. Not working out for me so far.
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Discoloration of leaves is a genetic flaw of the variety- they all get it. The variety is not precocious but not a shy bearer either. I think it will at least give you fruit in the next season or 2.so I recommend patience, but no harm in hedging your bets by throwing on some grafts. What is the rootstock and how good are the growing conditions (soil and sun)?.
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