Jonagold with 20 brix

Maybe this isn’t the best year to rate apples- they are all so good now. I let my Jonagolds stay on the tree and they are huge (one I just ate was 15 oz.) with a texture very similar to Honeycrisp. Only I’ve never gotten HC up that high- 15.5 tops.

I guarantee you that anyone that loves Honeycrisp will think they are eating a great one if they try one of these apples.

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I’m harvesting them now and just weighed one at 18.5 oz. There are bigger ones on the tree, I’m sure, but I have 3 types of Jonagold on the same tree and am harvesting my favorite variety right now that is a tad smaller to the 2nd named sport on the tree. The base of the tree is the original Jonagold grafted to a Wolf River trunk.

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Jonagold is a favorite of mine. It’s interesting that they’re grafted to a WR trunk and producing such big apples- could the rootstock be having a very large influence on the Jonagold’s size?

Also didn’t realize that there were other “Jonagolds” but I suppose I should have. Amazing you got that kind of brix!

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Alan,
Just curious. Why did you create this thread in the Uncategorized category?

You would have more viewing if you posted it in the General Fruit Growing category. I need to get Jonagold scionwood because the one I gradted last year has not grown.

I thought it was in the general fruit growing category. Thanks- you’re the best.

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Jonagold. One of my top favorites.

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The ones I harvested today are supposed to ripen early, but it seems more a matter of them having redder color. Sometimes redder is better as is the case with this one. It’s my favorite tasting Jonagold. I bet commercial growers usually do pick it earlier, before it develops full flavor. Here it’s Nov. and there are still some green ones on the tree, even of this variety. They will be my longer keepers but will never be as good as he ones I’m eating now.

The new strains I know of come from Europe where Jonagold became a bigger hit than in the states- like Jerry Lewis.

I also finished harvesting my smaller crop of Newtowns today. Outstanding quality for this one this year as well. All the later varieties seem to be outstanding.

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The honeycrisps I had from a local orchard in Ledyard CT were subpar. No acidity whatsoever. They were like eating Mott’s apple juice, probably what those of you who don’t like HC have experienced from it. Last year they were phenomenal.

This prompted me to read about Jonagold and I noticed this:

Jonagold is widely-grown by commercial growers, and there are a number of more highly-coloured sports. Jonagored is probably the most widely known of these. Others include: Decosta, Primo, Rubinstar, Red Jonaprince.

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Red Jonaprince is the variety I harvested today.

Is there a way to tell them apart? I have a Jonagold, but I am not sure which. Coddling moth got 80% of the apples before I got bags in place this year, but the ones that survived were far crisper, sweeter, and more flavorful that the supermarket ones I tried. Also redder than most of the market Jonagolds. I harvested the last of them around October 10th because the rain was splitting them.
Here is the tag that was on the tree.

001

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I recently tested a store bought Rubinette at 26 brix. Also from the same store was an opal apple at 18 brix and honeycrisp at 14 brix.
At these brix levels, all these apples were among the best I’ve ever tasted.

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In the west, it may be that the only thing between growing mediocre apples and superior, high brix apples, is the growers desire to add weight through excessive irrigation. The same is true of stonefruit, of course.

At some point maybe high end stores will post average brix for the specific shipments of fruit they receive and distributors will start moving this higher quality fruit at a premium and reduce the incentive for growers to pump up their fruit with water in the arid west.

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Jonagold is one of my most favorite apples for eating. Somehow it matches my taste buds perfectly. I like it much better than most of the more modern designer apples.

Unfortunately last year I didn’t thin enough, it over produced, and this year only had one apple. Coddling moths prefer it over my others and it gets scab. Such a prima donna.

Without apples to feed, it grew like crazy this summer. This winter it will need major pruning. It’s on M27 but twice the size of my Liberty on M27. Looks more like M26. That triploid vigor translated to a lot of growth. It’s worth it.

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You could try contacting GWN as listed on the bottom. The Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory book lists seven varieties of Jonagold. It was published back in 2009.

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Thanks for the advice. My primary concern is not propagating patented varieties, but it would also be nice to know what I have.

I’m sorry to report that my 20 brix Jonagold seems to be a bit of an outlier. Most seem to be around 15, which lowers that apple’s flavor appeal quite a bit- they are nothing that excites my palate. When the brix is in that range, I prefer an apple with some acid.

My Goldrush this year are large and not the highest brix- so far maybe similar to Jonagold. I prefer Goldrush.

I wish I could measure brix without cutting open the fruit. I’d save all the best ones.

The local distributor has a website with weekly brix numbers for their fruit but they do not provide the names of retailers who are receiving their shipments.

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