Anyone growing, or tasted, MN 1628? I’m getting a scion from Purvis and I can’t find anything online about it. His description sounds fine for my use: “a very high quality apple and had a loyal following in Minnesota. It also keeps well, far better than Carroll, Zestar, or Enigma. – Quite similar in many respects to Keepsake, ripens slightly earlier, tree more vigorous, spreading growth habit. Red stripes over yellow-ocher background, with yellowish flesh, complex sweet flavor, dense flesh, keeps till late spring.”
Sue, not having any information on MN 1628 I tried looking up Keepsake and found it intriguing:
https://www.orangepippin.com/apples/keepsake
It could very well be a sibling of Keepsake, which is a parent of Honeycrisp they say.
Sounds like a good choice for anybody with a good long growing season.
According to table on page 16 in this presentation, MN 1628 is a sibling of Keepsake and Sweet 16 — all three have NorthSpy and Frostbite as their parents.
Scott,
Did you manage to grow out any of these MN 1628 apple trees? I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on the fruit. I got some scionwood of it from Purvis as well this year, and just grafted 8 trees on G.41. I’m guessing I won’t have fruit for 3 to 4 years. We’ll see.
John
Hi John, I’m not Scott but I did graft a scion last year but, unfortunately, it didn’t make it. I hope you have better luck as it sounds like a good apple. Maybe it will be precocious like Frostbite and you’ll have some apples in a few years. Sue
Sue:
Sorry to hear yours didn’t make it. Will you be trying it again?
John
I might, but the scion was a substitution from Purvis and not my original choice anyway. Since I already have Frostbite and Sweet Sixteen I may not. I have so many others on my maybe list. Maybe I’ll wait till yours fruits to decide! Sue
I am ordering a scion of MN 1628 from Bob Purvis & wonder if anyone has recorded its relative bloom date? What I would like to know if it blooms early, mid-season or later.
Old thread, I know…
Anybody got anything to add to the discussion about this variety?
I grafted and planted it last year. No reports yet. I can’t wait to try it.