Anyone growing, or tasted, MN 1628? I’m getting a scion from Purvis and I can’t find anything online about it. His description sounds fine for my use: “a very high quality apple and had a loyal following in Minnesota. It also keeps well, far better than Carroll, Zestar, or Enigma. – Quite similar in many respects to Keepsake, ripens slightly earlier, tree more vigorous, spreading growth habit. Red stripes over yellow-ocher background, with yellowish flesh, complex sweet flavor, dense flesh, keeps till late spring.”
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Sue, not having any information on MN 1628 I tried looking up Keepsake and found it intriguing:
https://www.orangepippin.com/apples/keepsake
It could very well be a sibling of Keepsake, which is a parent of Honeycrisp they say.
Sounds like a good choice for anybody with a good long growing season.
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According to table on page 16 in this presentation, MN 1628 is a sibling of Keepsake and Sweet 16 — all three have NorthSpy and Frostbite as their parents.
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Scott,
Did you manage to grow out any of these MN 1628 apple trees? I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on the fruit. I got some scionwood of it from Purvis as well this year, and just grafted 8 trees on G.41. I’m guessing I won’t have fruit for 3 to 4 years. We’ll see.
John
Hi John, I’m not Scott but I did graft a scion last year but, unfortunately, it didn’t make it. I hope you have better luck as it sounds like a good apple. Maybe it will be precocious like Frostbite and you’ll have some apples in a few years. Sue
Sue:
Sorry to hear yours didn’t make it. Will you be trying it again?
John
I might, but the scion was a substitution from Purvis and not my original choice anyway. Since I already have Frostbite and Sweet Sixteen I may not. I have so many others on my maybe list. Maybe I’ll wait till yours fruits to decide! Sue
I am ordering a scion of MN 1628 from Bob Purvis & wonder if anyone has recorded its relative bloom date? What I would like to know if it blooms early, mid-season or later.
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