Had a nice phone conversation with David @ Century Farm Orchards, and he suggested I research Hokuto apples since my family enjoys trying new apples, so long as they have thinner skin & a crispy crunch to them. The parentage is cool, mutsu & fuji. Not much else I could find on the internet beyond youtube videos saying it’s the world record holder for heaviest apple! Neat! Trying to be more responsible with my apple tree purchases bc somehow I went from 3 to 6 and had all sorts of justifying reasons. I really do want things to be manageable. What does Hokuto taste like and how easy is it for a beginning apple grower? I’m in zone 10a. Thanks!
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Pomiferous has helpful info and an interesting note on genetic testing:
https://pomiferous.com/applebyname/hokuto-id-1911
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Since MUTSU supposedly produces only sterile pollen…the odds are slim that it is the father of this HOKUTO apple. But, if so, no surprise that it makes a big apple and keeps…although the Fuji genes from Ralls Janet probably is a stronger influence.
Ty for the extra info. Perhaps Fuji pollinated Mutsu? But I guess since Mutsu is a triploid, it would need 2 pollinators?
Not quite that … Mutsu needs only one pollinator that blooms at the same time.
(But, your tree that is going to pollinate Mutsu doesn’t get pollinated in return since Mutsu isn’t able to return the favor.) (That be the only reason you need ‘two pollinators’–so they can both have fruit too and not just the Mutsu.)
I’ve seen that “needs 2 pollinators [sic] pollenizers” misinformation a bunch of places as well. This article on orangepippin does a pretty good job of explaining what triploid actually means:
https://www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/fruit-tree-advice/triploid-apple-varieties
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I don’t have a Hokuto tree, but have tasted the apple. There was once an outfit you could buy a box of different apples to taste them. I think each box held 16 different apples. This was years ago. My family and I all liked Hokuto a lot. It was one of the better apples. On the continuum from sweet, balanced, to tart, it was definitely on the sweet end of the spectrum.
I never planted Hokuto because I had read it was very fireblight prone.
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Thanks for info