I had an incredible locally grown Crimson Crisp today.
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I think the reason there are so many bad HC apples being sold is that they are being grown where nights are too warm as they ripen. Iāve always thought that had something to do with it and last year we had what used to be a normal Sept with lots of cool nights and the HC were a little late from a late spring. They finally got up the brix they need to reach ideal quality.
Nevertheless, I was never tempted to stuff my face with them. It isnāt about Merlot, although the analogy is amusing, it is about having jaded taste buds from eating so many different kinds of apples and about individual preferences to boot. Taste is just as important to me as texture and texture is the quality that makes Honeycrisp exceptional. It means more to some than others, but is obviously enough to make the apple a winner with the average purchaser of apples.
HC was good but not great this year in my orchard, but it never got any attention from me and I gave almost all of them away. There was no incentive to eat them with all the plums, nects and peaches in my orchard at the same time they ripened- even if theyād been āperfectā.
I ate a āperfectā Baldwin yesterday. Cool nights, I guess. Earlier ones did not nearly reach that level. Early Pink Lady is also attractive to me right now- by far the most beautiful apples in my orchard- what a color! As always, Spitz was a worthwhile apple and I have plenty in the fridge for later. However, all the rain has not allowed anything to reach its potential brix. Life in the humid regions is challenging for a fruit grower.
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Warm nights is also probably not an excuse the Yakima Valley can use 
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Well, I have to admit that in this case my suggestion is without scientific evidence and more a laymanās hunch based on debatable anecdote. Cool nights, however, are noted for increasing color of fruit in the literature, and unfortunately, in the industry, color is something much more studied than brix. Iām not even aware of scientific research that establishes the relationship between precip and brix, but of that the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming and generally accepted by all experienced growers.
I bet Main Orchardās soil never dried out this year and that he got more than an average amount of grey days, so I will stick with cool nights.
I always think of those green jolly ranchers i ate as a kid when i eat a honeycrisp. I do like them (the apple)ā¦i should go buy some locally grown hc tomorrowā¦see how they are this year.
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I concur. The ones I bought at the super market were tasteless and watery. Iām not a huge fan of romance appless (lacking tartness) but I thought these were supposed to be great. Big size = watery taste. Iāll remember that in the future.
Iāve found that to be the case with Fujis, too. But my main gripe with HC is that the ones Iāve had had that explosive crunch and lots of juice and sugar but no flavor beyond that. Oh, and theyāre overpriced and, I understand, touchy to grow and ripen properly.
For all I know a good HC is the best apple ever, but not in my experience.
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I bought some locally grown (minnesota) at the local orchard place --a 10 pound bag of seconds. Some were softball size. They are fineā¦but iām starting to not like them and they are so huge that eating one is like eating a mealāi feel almost sick when iām done- i wonāt buy anymoreā¦iāll go back ot eating mcintosh.
Yep, too much apple to eat at one sitting. I prefer snackin on tart crab apple derivates given the choice.
Iāve had some great Blondies lately. Small but delicious
If you hate the size, donāt thin them until 3 weeks before they are ripe. That will get them time to get sweet but not too much size.
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I think they try real hard to impress you the first cropā¦expecting youāll come and buy again without sampling them first. 
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That is the problem with Honey Crisp: Itās consumerās perception. Thereās not much wrong with the apple or the tree. Theyāre sweet. Theyāre large. Theyāre crunchy, but so is a watermelon. You wouldnāt eat a watermelon by yourself.
I think Honey Crisp is not very versatile. Itās meant to be eaten out of hand. It doesnāt shine as a cooking apple compared to other varieties, although people do brag about cooking with it.
ā¦ so you eat one. You eat two. You eat three. Youāre tired of Honey Crisp. I have the same problem with Fireside. Both varieties are decent keepers, and I wind up at the end of the season with nothing else to eat. Grateful? ā¦ not!
The first one iever tried was an instant favorite, Iām yet to find another one anywhere near as good and in fact they have all been unremarkable.
Apple tree nutrition has a huge effect on the taste of the resulting apple. My theory is that they are getting over fertilized. I planted my own tree to see what i can get.
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same here
I have had a Honeycrisp apple tree planted since 2013. It has been a big dud for me here. Nothing to speak about taste wise. Maybe at most 10 small to med sized apples. The leaves look horrible and it looks like it has a mineral deficiency. I put another type of Honeycrisp in. To see if this version does any better. I am disappointed in this tree.
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Iām also tired of Honeycrisp. Some say itās the gold standard of texture but not for me.
Itās SO played
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Honey crisp can be great if your one of the people who have the right conditions to grow them. Fortunately when.honeycrisp came out i had some that were exceptional i purchased from the store. Never could i match that quality when trying to grow them. Have multiple HC trees. They are still nice shapely trees.
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This year my two attempts at grafting honey crisp into rootstocks took, but then I found a large potted tree and ended up buying it. Delayed gratification can be so overrated 
It was a Costco tree and it probably got stressed pretty bad in transit. At the time of purchase it was fully leafed out but it did not put any growth this season at all. Hopefully the roots were busy storing nutrients for the winter. Next year I should not let it try to ripe a single apple.
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Honeycrisp was bred in Minnesota. The sun under which it ripens there is different than Washington state which produces most of this nationās apple crop. I live in S. NY and the quality of Honeycrisp seems to depend at least partially on night temps in the final 2 or 3 weeks or ripening. If nights are relatively cool the brix are high enough to produce a good apple of exceptionally crunchy texture.
Honeycrisp has become the number 2 revenue producer for apple growers in the Hudson Valley although they are relatively difficult to produce at commercial quality. It commands higher prices which compensates for relatively low productivity of quality apples and the extra input.
Iāve long noticed that certain vegetables get sweeter towards the end of the growing season. Yesterday I tasted a raw green bean from my garden that was as sweet as a fruit- Iāve never tasted anything like it- sweeter than a sugar pea (edible pod). Iāve observed a similar boost in sugar to late zucchini for several decades. My theory is that dialing down night respiration with cool temps encourages the shuttling of sugar into fruit at the expense of vegetative growth.
I know of no research that suggests over-fertilizing in itself reduces brix and that the main issue is irrigation. Too much water creates large cells and relatively bland fruit. However, that bean I ate was from a plant growing in very moist soil.
Of course, the usual reason commercial apples are bland is because they were harvested too young. Big apples encourage earlier harvesting.
Why are we discussing store-bought fruit in the fruit growing section? Just like a discussion of club varieties, it seems to me it belongs in the lounge unless you are talking about fruit from your own orchard. Just saying.
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