William's Pride apple - is it good?

Barry, those do not resemble the WP I have seen anywhere else. See mamuang’s photos.

Like Marc said, Barry’s WP have so much green on them. Are you sure they realky were WP? Mine have always been dark red when ripe.

I had a couple not pictured that looked pretty similar to mamuang’s lower left one. They fell into my hand when I touched them, but like I said, the flavor and texture on those were not ideal for my tastes. This is a small sample size and the tree is making its first apples so I don’t want to read too much into it. But yeah mine are definitely lighter than mamuang’s. I was planning to let the ones in the photo hang a lot longer until I ate my darkest colored ones, then I decided to pick them looking a bit green and I liked them better. The seeds on the lighter ones were kind of brown - not totally ripe. I also shined them with my shirt. They had the hazy look prior to that. My timing is right for WP. I ordered them from Cummins on G890 root and planted in Fall 2014. Well if it is not WP, I’m Ok with that. Whatever they are, I will enjoy them. I forgot to mention that most had some water core, but it did not seem to affect flavor. Water core is characteristic that has been reported for WP especially in warmer areas. I had no splits.

Mine are usually dark. I let a first few fall to the ground before I start picking. They do not ripen all at once. My first and my last can be a month apart. None was mealy or mushy. Maybe, they don’t like a lot of heat.

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How do you like the WP/G890 as a tree? I ordered one of the same scion/root combo from Cummins for my dad, and they have an amazing >75 degree angle on most of the scaffolds. I wish all of my trees behaved that way.

I love it. After I cut out two oversized upper scaffolds last winter and notched below another to slow it down, it is my most well proportioned tree out of the six I have. The trunk is getting nice and thick. The new growth this year is in good places and at good angles. I notched where I wanted branches so that likely played a role in giving it a good shape, but I think some of it is natural too. I managed other trees similarly and they don’t have as nice a shape. Not sure on the relative influence of scion vs rootstock on growth habits aside from vigor. Hopefully I will get some good fruit set next year. The tree is about 10 ft tall now. No fireblight, no scab, and no cedar apple rust. Meanwhile my Arkansas Black and Priscilla got fireblight in the trunk although they seem to be shrugging it off for now. Fireblight pressure is really high around here based on published reports and the number and severity of strikes I see on other apple and pear trees around town.

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Good to see a local report on some of the same varieties that I’m growing. I’m a firm believer in mostly using FB resistant varieties.

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I was expecting to taste my first Williams Pride this year from a graft I put on dads tree last year. It produced 3 apples. They were starting to size up well and get some color. This past weekend I was at dads house and noticed all 3 apples were missing from the tree. They were quite high up at the max of what I’d suspect deer damage. But it’s possible. More likely neighborhood kids. The trees native apples are still much smaller with no color at all. Those WP stood out like a sore thumb.

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I have some splits each year which remind me of the splits in Stayman in a very wet year. In my area Williams Pride is several weeks behind Printine and some do not ripen before Redfree gets ripe. I really like the taste of the apple, but its not especially crunchy when fully ripe. Also has a tough chewy skin. Makes a good cooking apple before it gets fully ripe. My hot humid climate may have a big impact on this apple.

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My WP apples look exactly like barry’s (once I rub the bloom off). I’m also in a similar southern climate, so maybe that has something to do with it. My WP came from Burnt Ridge.

I like WP ok. For an early apple, I prefer Pristine. WP is more acidic, but still has decent flavor. The main drawback is that the skin can sometimes be a bit chewy. After taking a bite, I’m usually left with a mouth full of chewed up skin. Pristine has no skin issues, and less acidic, which I like.

I brought both a WP and a Pristine apple to eat for lunch today :slight_smile:

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Apples in my location don’t appear to get as dark as those from colder areas. I’m hoping that the WP will get dark for no other reason other than I like the look of a dark red apple…

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Both of mine are from Burntridge on M 7. I have not experienced tough/chewy skin. I don’t have Pristine so I can’t compare the acidity. I can only say it’s not very acidic as I do no like acidic apples. I find the taste quite balance. Everyone I gave the apples to, love it.

The trees have produced for only 3-4 years. Maybe, being in a less hot and humid area has its advantage :slight_smile:

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Mine are either on M7 or M111. It’s a fast grower, and one of my largest apple trees, so I’m guessing M111, but I’d have to check. This is the first year I’ve gotten a decent crop, maybe 50 apples, so my data is limited. The taste is good, it just has a bit more of a bite for me than Pristine. I know others mention that Pristine can be tart, but mine aren’t when picked ripe. So, yeah, I suspect the difference in climates makes a big difference :wink:

My M 7 does not grow vigorously. The trunk is somewhat crooked, too. If I were to guess, yours is on M 111.

I have a Honey Crisp that is on unknown rootstock. When I bought it potted. It said semi-dwarf. I guess it’s on M 111. It grows well and sturdy.

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Only one commenter reported splitting so I’ll hope mine straightens out in the future and stops producing split apples.

hambone, I haven’t had any splitting on my WP apples this year. And we’ve had some decent amounts of rain. I’ve had some splitting on other varieties, but not WP.

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I never had splitting. The only problem I had was watercore, but I had way too much of it. My tree was in a particularly hot spot. Without the watercore I would have kept it as if they hang a long time they get some really great flavors going, as rich as a good late apple sometimes.

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Too much rain and/or poor drainage causes some varieties to split when they don’t on a normal season or in well drained sites. Last year I had a tremendous amount of splitting of Northern Spy on 4 trees at one site, rendering the crop useless. It just happened to have rained too much at the wrong time and the trees are in a clay soil that can become too wet during rainy periods even though it is on a fairly steep slope

It was the only variety that suffered and WP was one of the varieties on the site but it was later rain that caused the problem, after WP had already cropped. N. Spy at other sites were not similarly cracked. At the site of the cracking there are several other varieties that ripen at the same time that had no cracking at all.

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I’m going to assume these are WP. They are very big. I only have a few on the tree along with a few other varieties.

Are these Jefferies? I ate one. Sweet, no tart to them…but they did have some of those clear cells in the flesh. Still pretty decent for a late July apple.

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That sounds like Jefferis. Yours are ahead of mine but some of mine are edible now (I just ate an excellent one ten minutes ago). Mine are more flattened in shape than yours but it could be climate related.