Planted a Mollie's Delicious apple NE Florida

General Fruit Growing
#1

Now that I’ve finally found a good place in the yard for apple trees, I decided to add a third one to my collection, the Mollie’s delicious…

They had them at Lowes and the nursery where they’re grown here in Florida is just south of us down in Bunnell, so I expect it should do well up here in the NE…

I’d never heard of this variety before, but figured I’d give it a try, the tree looked very healthy. Planted between my Dorsett and Anna trees, so it should have some nice cross pollination…

If nothing else, I can certainly graft to it…

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#2

Mollie’s Delicious is a early, but inferior, substitute for red delicious. Probably keeps 2 or 3 weeks at most at room temperature, but perhaps 6 weeks in cold storage. Ripens in August in Kentucky. An early ‘niche’ apple for the roadside market…nothing to write home about.

#3

Thanks @BlueBerry, I’d seen mixed reviews on it…unfortunately, I’m somewhat limited to the varieties available, so at the very least if it takes well in my yard I’ll use it for grafting stock…

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#4

Have you tried
any of these apple varieties?
Arkansas Black
Reverend Morgan
Shell of Alabama
Rome
Liberty
White Winter Pearmain
Fuji
Blacktwig
Johnson Keeper

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#5

Actually, I’m not trying to say Mollie’s Delicious is a bad choice…it may be one of only a handful
that do OK in your climate. But for here, where we can grow most apples, it’s not preferred apple.

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#6

I have grown Mollie for several years in central al. It has been a good to medium flavor for me. I think you will like it. I still keep a couple of limbs.

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#7

I’ve not tried any of those…not for lack of wanting to, but more an availability issue…Just Fruit and Exotics carries Shell and a couple of other varieties that will supposedly do well in north Florida…I might be able to squeeze one or two more trees in but I’m getting close to my limit from a space standpoint…maybe next year I’ll see about getting some scion wood of those varieties…

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#9

That’s good to know. Thanks @Auburn.

#10

I have black twig, Arkansas black, liberty. The tree grew very well and caused 0 problems. The fruit fell off at steady rate until 0. Cut them down after 25 years.

#11

Maybe it depends on where you grow it. Here, Mollie’s Delicious is far superior to Red Delicious.

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#13

Here in Dallas my Anna and Dorsett bloomed much earlier than my Molly Delicious, I don’t know if it would get pollinated

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#14

That’s quite probably true of a lot of things. Also, memories from the past seem to influence what tastes good to us. Obviously some apples do better in cold climate and/or high altitude.
And some need a long warm fall, etc.

#15

Here in Michigan, it’s an early apple. So it does show up at farmer’s markets and such, just because it’s available before a lot of other varieties. Although I usually will take a Paula Red over a Mollie, myself.

I do wonder how they’ll do in FL. Maybe they’ll like your climate better?

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#16

We probably get fewer chill hours than you do, so I’m in a similar boat…the even just a zone north and there are a lot more apple options…

That’s a good point, I don’t recall whether my Anna or the Dorsett bloomed first this year, but it’s been a while and I’ve already got some fruit on them,The mollie has blooms that are about to pop, but nowhere near as far along…

Guess we’ll find out if I can get this one to grow…Apples are a tricky proposition in Florida after 5 years, I’m still trying to figure it out…

#17

Dorsett grows in the Bahamas, so you’ll figure something out in Florida.

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#18

that’s a good point…I had a Dorsett that was one of my oldest trees, it died last year…not sure what happened to it…I expect the roots were staying too wet.