Gotta tree maybe 5 years old and never had an apple. There’s always next year!
1 Like
This is mine and it works just fine.
Brix Refractometer Range 0-32% Brix with 0.2% Division, for Brandy, Beer, Fruits, Cutting Liquid Amazon.com
$20
6 Likes
I bought a refractometer used for $30…glad it works OK. Measured a Hewes crab just picked from the tree yesterday (rot around the stem; two or three weeks late for picking) with a friend’s refractometer & found 31 Brix. Great flavor; cinnamon overtone. Can hardly wait until Hewes comes into production!
3 Likes
My ambrosia apple was almost too sweet, like cotton candy, and it only came in at 15. 31 sounds a little out of the park for an apple. I think even 20 sounds super sweet.
5 Likes
Splendour getting to full color. They look spectacular on the tree. I had some non-grower ppl over who did not believe they were real.
8 Likes
The difference, Regina, is the Ambrosia has no sourness at all. So a 15 seems too sweet.
But, if you took an apple twice as sweet as Ambrosia and crossed it with Winesap, Harrison or Winekist (or squeezed a lemon over it)…??
3 Likes
BlueBerry has it right.
One of my homegrown Claygate, cut into at the end of December last year or the year before, registered 24 Brix. It still had enough “bracing acidity,” as the Brits like to say, to come across as somewhat sweet. I had a bunch of Wickson crab several years ago, grown elsewhere, which averaged 21 Brix. Those were immensely complex & moderately sweet at that level.
Cutting into that Hewes crab, which was very late to be picked, was the first of its kind I’d encountered. I planted this as a whip at my friends’ orchard specifically because it is supposed to be a premier cider apple, so was keen to finally arrive at their place & get acquainted. Hewes appears to justify its reputation on the basis of this single sample. On top of its flavor, juiciness & Brix, it hangs until picked Makes me think it might be worth harvesting at the end of September for high sugar content (24% will do nicely) & better keeping cider. And yeah, 31 Brix is noteworthy, extreme: good news.
3 Likes
Redfield picked today, perhaps a bit late for this region, but hard to gauge since spring lingered so late. These were thinned & covered late, also, yet at least a fourth of the crop was free of codling moth damage. I tried 4" x 4" organza bags with a dusting of Kaolin on them. Bags too small, I had to cut & tear (like runs on a nylon stocking) at least half of them.
This is by far the largest Redfield I have grown & is lovely on every count. A worthy tree.
9 Likes
Squirrels can steal a lot of apples; the Kania trap 2000 works great!
2 Likes
A big Waltana that I found on the ground tonight. I am definitely enjoying these apples more now that they have hung a little longer. Very juicy nice sweet apple with a little bit of tart. It tastes like apple juice from the store.
10 Likes
A really nice looking apple.
3 Likes
Not sure if I am placing my reply in the right post but I finally got it figured out the heritage of the Honeycrisp apple pictured. It is a Roseland Red Honeycrisp on a G-41 rootstock that I purchased locally at Schlabach’s Nursery. The tree was planted the spring of 2022.
5 Likes
Great to hear you figured it out. I just planted a Roseland Red Honeycrisp apple this spring (2023) in my orchard. Now I am looking forward to having some even more.
1 Like
Cut this Redfield - much smaller than the one depicted a few posts above in this thread - to include with breakfast. Mighty fine.
6 Likes
This is the balance of my Arkansas Black harvest. Lost at least 15 to rot and bird pecks and gave away maybe ten more. A good harvest from a fairly small tree. Got about the same last year with about a third thinned each year. PC Marks on these but they didn’t drop.
This one is clear and fairly representative of the size. The stems are really short and the color doesn’t always extend to the very top of the apple.
12 Likes
How does Arkansas Black taste to you? I have tried it several times over the years & find it metallic out my way, even when stored for 8 weeks. Other people like it; I seem unable to.
1 Like
If memory serves, I didn’t notice that taste. I’ll circle back when I try a few in the coming months.
1 Like
Makes a great cobbler.
A sure bet if other apples fail in zone 6.
1 Like
Red Love Odysso
This may be my favorite red fleshed apple and I’ve tried all the fancy ones from Etter etc. Strong berry/citrus flavor with a lot of sweetness. I can keep eating this one.
I usually pick them only after they fall and then let them ripen with other apples for another week on the counter.
9 Likes
I’ll have to try this. One think I’ve noticed with these deeply red fleshed apples is I don’t know how to recognize defects in the flesh. Like bitter pit, apple maggot and so forth.