RR might be an under rated apple for our area. I just finished eating the larger one and it was very good. I didn’t notice any bitter peeling but the peel was a little tougher than others. Very sweet with just a little tart. Appears to be disease resistant.
I had two trees of these in my little orchard. One died from cotton root rot and it’s right next to the other one. So I’m pretty certain that other one will bite the dust next summer. Positively the trees last year didn’t appear to be suffering from the heat. Thanks for posting your report. I’m going to imagine eating of those apples.
I’m getting rid of liberty, which though I love the taste is an insect magnet, has suffered from bad fireblight two years in a row, has the unfortunate habit of turning red well before ripe leading to birds sampling it, and only sets a few fruit despite blooming heavily every year. Red rebel is one of the ones I’m looking at as a replacement. How much did you spray to get those? Sooty blotch and flyspeck, which is what I think you have, are both things I can live with.
You’re right about Red Rebel. It was sooty looking but the taste was good. I like the taste of Pink Lady and Goldrush a little better but Red Rebel is good also. I didn’t spray my apples this year but normally I bag most of them. The person I got the original scions from had a small u pick orchard with Yates and Red Rebel and he told me he never sprayed them. I’m planning to graft in a few more limbs this winter. I’ll check today and I think I have enough grafting wood for both of us if you’re interested in using scions.
