Low care apples for Kansas, feedback?

General Fruit Growing
#1

A local in central kansas has grown around 40 types of apple over a number of decades and says these are the most dependable for our climate, of those he has grown:

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Do yall have any experiences with any of these?
Disease resistance?
Bloom time?
Productivity?
I do not know if he has tried apples I have such as the PRI disease resistant types etc.
We have a drier climate(could that help with mildew and CAR?), with high late spring frost dangers.
I am considering these as well, considering our climate, frost issues, and since I am growing low spray I like disease resistance, especially of Fireblight:
Dabinett.
Court Pendu Platt
Jonalicious
Galarina
Bedan.
Any experiences?

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#2

Granny Smith is not one to try and not spray here…IDK about Kansas

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#3

@39thparallel is a good guy to talk with on apples he has a bunch he raises and sells fruit from. The 39th Parallel Nursery and Orchard! . He grows a few of my seedling apples.

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#4

Yellow Transparent / Lodi is dependable and the first to ripen unfortunately it’s when Japanese Beatles are really bad.

Jonagold and Suncrisp are fine apples but, they are going to look rough without spraying.

Lady Williams is they very last apple to Ripen. We don’t have a long enough growing season for it some years.

I would suggest: Winesap, Arkansas Black and Roxbury Russet for a low spray program.

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#5

I would add Enterprise, Galarina, Liberty and Pristine to the above list.

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#6

Dependable and disease resistant are two very different things. Golden Delicious is a very dependable producer but is susceptible to all of the major apple diseases and some of the minor ones as well. And the minor diseases may not be minor if you live in an area where the minor disease is prevalent and you don’t do plenty of cover sprays after bloom.

I have a couple of suggestions. One is to look at the Purdue chart for disease resistance of major apple cultivars. Second look at the forum thread on Summer rots of apples. Summer rots can be a problem especially in areas with humid, wet conditions. Scott has had to remove plenty of trees due to fruit rotting problems and I have had some issues as well.

Jonagold, Mollies Delicious, and Granny Smith aren’t very disease resistant. Yellow transparent is fairly disease resistant. The list you have may be dependable in Kansas but it looks like you need a good spray program.

If you want low spray apples I think you would be better looking at PRI disease resistant apples and heirlooms that have good disease resistance ( some heirlooms don’t have good disease resistance or the resistance is narrow in scope).

I would suggest looking at the following:

Enterprise
Winecrisp
Goldrush
William’s Pride
Pristine
Ashmead’s Kernel
Pitmaston Pineapple
Grimes Golden
Jonagrimes

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#7

@BlueBerry

Granny Smith really like Kansas a couple of friends grow it but it’s not spray free. I’m a terrible apple grower myself I made several of my own to try to make them easier to grow. New Apple Seedling Varieties . Disease and pest resistant apples may be that way for reasons not widely known eg. Thick skin. That’s not to say I don’t grow them but to me an apple is 100x more work than a pear. I’m OK with eating pear pie. Some pears taste a little bit like apples.

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#8

Full sized pear trees are more trouble to pick than apples.

Back to Granny Smith…my tree I planted about 30 years ago (M7)…on a good year it sets a dozen apples, and I get to eat one if I’m lucky before it rots. So, if it’s no-spray in Kansas, good for you.
(I’m planning to remove the tree…already have replacement planted…but I’ll keep it as a limb on a Frankentree.)

I also notice Lodi/Y.T mentioned above. It can be ok some seasons, but gets fireblight that
hits lots of limbs, but have not seen it kill a tree. It’s not one for here unless you plan to spray IMO.

I’d suggest adding Arkansas Black and RedDelicious to a no-spray list.
You have some good ones already mentioned to pick from though.

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#9

Thanks for yalls feedback!! Do yall know anyone trading or selling scion (im.thinking next year) that has the unnamed PRI apples especially Co-op 27, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 42? Those seem pretty rare but on the official pri page sound like good ones to trial! :smiley:

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#10

I’d add MonArk to the list of varieties to consider.
Has been very disease resistant here (southern west-central KY), ripens early to mid-July, good for fresh eating, drying, cooking. Will keep 6-8 weeks in the fridge before going mealy (unlike Lodi, which has about a 15-minute window of opportunity at peak flavor before it goes…)

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