Andy, how are your bloom times on your red fleshed apples? The red vein pictured blooms a little later than Redfield and Niedzwetzkyana doesn’t it? But some bloom overlap? I know my Odysso and Bakran bloom later and don’t overlap the Niedz., Redfield or Veralma Simontornya.
Any other sweet but non-red-flesh bloom with your earliest red fleshed varieties?
My Roberts Crab hasn’t grown enough to bloom in '24 I don’t believe.
If you have bloom times of your varieties…I’d be interested in hearing. (I realize my bloom times are far ahead, but the spacing between should be similar).
It’s crisp and has a pleasant sweet-tart flavor with berry overtones. Skin is a bit thicker than Pink Pearl’s. Fruit is medium-sized, and the tree (on MM111, grown from one of Ram’s bench grafts) is productive.
I haven’t cooked with it yet, or even dried it (though I will this year), but I do enjoy it for fresh eating.
I think that it’s good enough that it ought to be more widely grown, assuming that it can succeed in other climates. @derekamills sells scions. While Neil Collins at TOA is growing trees of many of Ram’s Etter apples, he doesn’t currently list this one.
My Red Vein and Almata bloom early, with the crabs. Niedz and Redfield are both low vigor at my orchard site and neither have bloomed. I’m close to yanking the Redfield on M.111 but I have another on P.18 that’s doing better but hasn’t bloomed. Roberts hasn’t bloomed for me yet. Check my May posting from this year in Making Maggie’s Orchard, that shows a lot of blooms photographed in the same timeframe.
Many do, though not all. While they do appear to have the same cream-colored ground where shaded, mine get good sun and tend to be rather redder than the blush in that photo. Some are solid red. Flesh appearance is a good match, as are the taste and ripening time described. I got my sample from Ram himself, and while he could have mislabeled it, I don’t know what else he grew that would check those boxes.
I’ve had just a few Niedz 4 times off a M111 I bought in 2012 off Trees of Antiquity. (12-15 foot tree)
Redfield bought and planted spring 2016 has had just a very few fruits (badly damaged by plum curculio) this year and last…again on M111. Certainly some of the other r.f. apples are much LESS
vigorous for me. I’ve gotten no fruit from 2017 grafts (other than a couple ‘Bakran’ grafted on a ‘Frankentree’ and only one apple off Geneva crab grafted in 2018 on dwarfing root.
I didn’t see anything special about the taste of Redfield over Niedzwetzkyana. But I think the right crosses can bring out better in both. (Same bloom time.)
Oh, and Redfield doesn’t seem to like to be straight…even leader comes out 150 degrees or something. (So, I removed the central leader and I’ll see what happens…so far about 6 limbs at just over 45 angle.)
Yes. I chop them and put them in a big mixing bowl (ceramic) filled with water & ascorbic acid powder. I keep them stirred down as I do this. I give them 5 minutes or so when I’m done and then retrieve them with a slotted spoon onto my dehydrator trays then pop them into the dehydrator.
I have Niedz on B.118 and M.106 and none of those trees are over 5’ tall, all grafted in 2018. While they may not be low vigor in certain climates, they are in mine, and they don’t like the conditions (soil et.al) I’ve provided them. They’re so lackluster they fail to interest me, and only Redfield bores me more. It seems odd to me these cold hardy trees do so poorly in my cold climate. I have other red wood / red fleshed apple trees doing fine here. I can only assume they’re not happy with the soil conditions here.
Something like Rubaiyat or Baya Marisa has teased about being vigorous. But in my collection, nothing I have
has been more vigorous
than Niedzwetzkyana.
Not Redfield, not Almata, not Red Devil, not Otterson, not winter red flesh, not Veralma Simontornya, not Bill’s Redflesh, not Nursha, not Bakran, not Venioun, not Odysso, not Giant Russian, not Geneva Crab, not Roberts Crab, not Vitalstar, not Alatau, not Petlovra, not Maggy, not Rotor Mond, not Burgundy, not Black Prince, not Purple Haze, not Surprize…possibly Pixie Rosso or Motts Pink …
and I could keep going.
Choice of rootstocks may have some influence…but though Niedz. on M111 is very vigorous, even on G roots or B9 it has demonstrated above average vigor. Niedz. is also the only 2 year old on M111 I’ve ever seen fruit. Redfield took 7, and Fuji took 8 on M111.
