I would add that Hawaii is very thin skinned and bruised easily so needs more careful handling.
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Agreed, some of mine now have bruises on them.
I have been avoiding thin skin and easy falling apples. With heavy rains and sucking bugs; they do not sound like they would do well here. Pity I wish āBunkumā from Horse Creek was not a dropper.
This sounds like a really cool apple! Would you say it is best eaten fresh? How long do they store āpretty wellā? a month? a few months?
Its an all-round apple, good with whatever you want to do with it.
In reading my comment above I would say itās only dry when it has been stored for awhile. They are juicy for some time before that. I think a month is a rough idea of how long they will store, but I harvest mine really late and if harvested earlier they would last longer in storage.
Note that this year I only had one apple with any cheddar cheese in it, usually they donāt have that.
The main reason to grow Hunge is for how bulletproof it is, it is my all-time winner on that front.
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All-round and bulletproof sounds pretty great.
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I have heard so many flavors attributed to Hunge. Winey, Vinous ,Strawberry. And now Cheddar cheesy.
Has anyone, @scottfsmith or others, found apple varieties too hard for plum curculio? Or that PC avoid for any reason?
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Iāve never found one. In this last year Brushy Mountain Limbertwig and Rambour dāHiver were relatively the best. Both are late ripening with hard flesh. But GoldRush also fits into that category and it gets an average level of damage. Early apples are the worst, Pristine is my earliest and is the biggest curc magnet.
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Thanks Scott. Is Chestnut Crab in the PC Magnet category? I draw the line at insecticides so if it has a major PC problem, will graft mine over to hard, late varieties like Kittageskee.
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It has not been bad at all for me. No idea why.
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Parkers Orchard in the Brushy Mts. grows the Royal LT and what I presume to be the OFLT. You really need to taste these. I can send you a gift package if you want to test and provide a review.
The Royal LT can have a nice tangerine wash if grown in the right soil. Itās not popular due to it being a softer apple. Itās a very juicy apple made for eating out of hand. I would rate it right up there with the Evercrisp and Spitz. Itās just different and unexpected.
The 2023 and 2024 Old Fashion Limbertig crop sold at the local market were shockingly potent sour/tart and sweet.
The 2025 apple season started two weeks later, and everything was picked too green.
Every apple enthusiast needs to try these two.
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Just added it this year and your description is exactly what I like. Glad to hear that. Iāve been building a collection of fresh eater LTās.
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I canāt believe how many apples you have tried. Thank you for passing on all the info. and things you have learned!
I am finding Plum Curc to be a big problem with my apples. Are there any good apples that they are not intersted in?
The flowers on my tree are only half done, and the first and biggest baby apples are all hit by Plum Curc before the remaining flowers finish.
I end up having to pull of the first set of larger apples, and start over with others that are really tiny. Such a shame.
I am in 6b central Kentucky.
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Some apples are worse than others for curc but itās not a big difference. Location probably matters more than variety, for example if there is a trap tree they prefer that is nearby.
Surround spray works pretty well, or just spray a bug poison. Also knocking the buggers off onto a sheet in the morning is the old-fashioned way which is more work but it can be effective.
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Thanks Scott!
Amazing information. Do you happen to keep notes on when each variety ripens? Curious if you have information on Zestar? Early August? Late August? I am not terribly far south of you by the Potomac in VA/Loudoun.
Love hearing your review of Pristine. Deer got into my orchard during a snowstorm (shorted out electric fence) in the winter and nearly killed it. I considered pulling it out since it has been growing back just above the rootstock this year, but your rave review makes me want to keep it (and graft more).
The apples are more or less listed in ripening order. I was not the most careful on that but the position of Zestar seems OK to me .. itās a late summer apple, later August based on its position above.
Re: Pristine while I still love it the apples are often misshapen, and itās not all due to curculio. This spring the last frost affected them and many have marks on them. If I take one of the apples in June and squeeze it there is a give to it which is not like a normal immature apple. This is why it is so susceptible to damage, itās super soft early. It doesnāt get softer though and by ripening its perfectly fine.
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I heard Pristine can get biennial easily.
It might have been biennial in its early years but itās been reliable for quite a while now for me .. ten years in a row or thereabouts. It can overset and trees that overset which are not thinned aggressively can go biennial. Not all of them though, Abbondanza sets like crazy every year however much or little I thin it.
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