Hello,
Thank you for letting me join this forum.
I want to plant some rare, heirloom apples this year. Our number one favorite apples are a friend’s Golden Delicious ( But he lives in a place with at least 600 chill hours and we gat 200-400 since the climate change.) and our Fuji’s. We have a Dorset Golden which is so tasteless that only the dogs eat them and an Anna that tastes good, but mushy if you do not eat them at EXACTLY the best time.
Here are the ones I am considering. My questions are:
Are they tasty! I do not want any more that require maintenance but are really just a pollinators since no one like the fruit. (I have two that fit that category, a Santa Rosa Plum and Dorset Golden.)?
Will they thrive in our heat and wind along with foggy marine layer that lasts until late morning.
I am considering Grimes Golden, Hunge, Reverend Morgan, and Dixie Red Delight.
Thank you so much!!
PS I always think that the back story is important. However, I am new to the forum and please tell me honestly if I should just post questions without such a long post.
Isn’t Gravensteins a fireblight magnet? I love those apples but this year, in So Cal, famous for dry heat, we had humid days all summer and encountered fire blight and Botospyra Fungas on the anna and the Asian pears and my persimmon for the first time. Also, with this humidity, our master gardener told me that botospyra fungus is rampant all over the county.
No sign of fireblight here in coastal Marin County on my Grav or any other apple - and I have quite a few.
Despite the fog, fungal pressure is very low here. Conditions might be different for you. We have other Southern California growers here who could speak more knowledgably about that.
First, welcome to this great forum. Lots of wonderful people here with lots of experience with fruit and fruit trees.
I am not in a southern growing climate though. I cannot recommend a variety.
However, I would suggest the book Old Southern Apples by Lee Calhoun. If you can find a copy or get one from the library. This is one of the best books about southern apples.
Welcome to the forum! If you haven’t yet I recommend taking a look at Kuffel Creek’s Apple Variety List. They’ve tried out a lot of the old southern apples and have comments on how well different varieties have done for them in a hot climate. Of course, your climate is likely somewhat different but it is worth a look for ideas.
That is exactly what my problem was as well. So many great choices. It is hard to choose what varieties to pick and grow. I have to be careful as to not get varieties that ripen very late into the year. Anything past about the end of October will probably not ripen correctly for me.
Good luck picking them out.
So, Braeburn, Fuji, Arkansas Black and everything else I can think of ripens here in Z. 6b.
But, maybe there are some I don’t know about that will not ripen here.
We can get snow or freezing temps by the middle or even first part of November. So I try to stay away from varieties that ripen late. The temps get colder here pretty fast so I do not think the apples would get the taste they are supposed to get. I grew up in SE Kentucky and they have a lot longer of a growing season than I get here. Even down in Lexington or Cincinnati they get longer growing season that I get here.
Yeah, it was either Oct. 24 or Oct. 26…1993 that Lexington KY got 2" of snow. Have seen six inches for Halloween a couple times in the past 60 years or so. Perhaps not this year. I have only a very few Braeburn and a few “not MacIntosh” still on 2 of my trees. Everything else long gone.
My grafts of “winter sweet” apple all took…anybody have this one as a favorite for a southern apple?
My Mammoth Blacktwig bloomed but did not set fruit this year.
I planted 3 on m111 earlier this year. Rick (greyphase) says it’s one of his best apples so that says a lot. Henry Morton also said great things about it along with Brogan. Grafted that one this year as well. Now I wait
I’ve only ate a few Winter Sweet but it’s definitely one of my favorites. The #@$#@ cicadas hit my tree hard last summer so I don’t expect many apples this year. But I made some limb grafts this spring and have one in the nursery to plant this fall.
The ‘winesaps’ are falling, and the crows and Asian hornets are having a party…
may be very few, if any, good fruits by the time they ripen next month.
But I made some limb grafts this spring and have one in the nursery to plant this fall.