That I can plant and forget about for the most part, similar to what I do with my jujubes. Cliff England has some it looks like. Probably going to go with best two suited for me in very similar climate as England’s orchard.
Anyone have any of Cliffs variety’s?
Golden Grimes, Empire, June Apple, Blue Pearmain, Priscilla or Freedom which he told me is “totally spray free”.
2018 EON Fall catalogue 22 SEPT 2018.pdf (347.4 KB)
Freedom and Empire seem to be the two apples that get the most recommendations for low-maintenance apples, but I’m just not that wild about the taste of either (fairly tart to me and thick skin too). You saw my Rome Beauty in person so you know how loaded it was, and when the fruit ripened it looked really good and quite blemish free. I did spray it a few times with exactly what I used on my apples, but I have a strong suspicion that I didn’t need to. I say that because the one I grafted onto that old full sized apple tree was completely out of the reach of my sprays and those apples looked the same as those I sprayed a few times. I’ve never heard anyone else say Rome Beauty are low maintenance but they seem to be for me. Gala and Honey Crisp, on the other hand, seem extremely susceptible to all bugs and diseases at my location (and in turn I would think at your location as well). Whatever you decide you know I’ll give you some wood off my Rome Beauty and you can try a limb or two of it first if you wish. Good luck
Thanks Kevin. Haven’t tried apples yet and been meaning on adding some, even a good crabapple is a possibility.
The questions with apples are:
Answers to these questions will help everyone suggest varieties. I think there are enough disease-resistant varieties that there is some choice.
Spray free is directly proportional to your tolerance of codling moth larvae in apples, as most will say there is no codling moth resistant apple.
If you wanted an early and a late apple, Williams Pride and GoldRush would be good candidates.
Thanks @Levers101Drew.
I’m looking for a balanced apple, early and late as you suggest would be nice. Spray not needed is preferred and don’t need to store them long.
Heard a lot of good regarding Goldrush. How is that disease wise?
*Noted Williams Pride.
Thanks for the help.
I’ve been growing Grimes Golden for 4 or 5 years in large container with good success. It is pretty trouble-free, yearly productive and not too demanding. It is a great pollinator for other apples. They are a mild, sweet, juicy apple here. I didn’t need to place my usual Surround-soaked footies yet have perfect large apples. Wickson is the only other unprotected apple. The crop is ready to pick here in the Pacific Northwest. GoldRush has not been nearly as easy for me as I have had to battle powdery mildew on it and Ginger Gold here but hoping they will grow out of it. I am willing to go extra lengths to get crops from both. My main pests are the apple maggot and coddling moth. I don’t have issues with CAR. Leaf rollers are a pain and I need to spray more frequently to improve leaf health. In terms in animal pressure - Karmijn De Sonnaville is the highest priority. It is mine too.