I’m zone 5b and my Williams Pride apples are dropping.
I think they are ripe but not sure. The 3 that have drop are red with no insect damage.
I understand they are an early ripening apple but this seems way to early. We did get an early warm up this season. I’m not an apple person but like to grow a variety of fruit. The taste was Ok but I dont know if it should be sweeter. Lots of apples are mostly red on the tree, some partially green with a bit of red on the tree.
Anyone have any ripening dates for this variety zone 5b?
Im in 4b and mine are just coloring up. its also the 1st time this tree has fruited for me. set about a doz. apples. youre a little ahead of me but i agree its too early for them to be ready. from what i read they are a late aug. apple. probably more like early sept. here.
I thought William’s pride would fill the gap between summer and fall apples? My pristine, Lodi, and rootstock tree have already been done for a couple weeks or have just a few left and are almost completely done for the season. Or would it match my area and climate and fill the gap?
As per cumminsnursery,
Pristine - Ripening date: Jul 21 (approximate, in New York State) 56 days before McIntosh
Williams’ Pride - Ripening date: Aug 18 (approximate, in New York State) 28 days before McIntosh
Nice looking apples. They are very nice sized apples.
I have a William’s Pride apple in my orchard. This is first year of producing fruit. Only about 5 apples on the small tree. They are very dark red colored yet smaller in size. Either due to the fact this is the first year fruiting or the small size of the tree since it is a young tree.
I am in Zone 6b.
Here’s a few photos of the few William’s Pride apples I have growing this year.
** I added two more photos of my Williams Pride apple. I just picked up the last one off the ground that dropped off by itself. I have a photo of the William’s Pride apple next to one of my Monark apples. The Monark apples are normally pretty big and some of them weigh about 8+ to 9+ ounces.
We ate one of the William’s Pride apples last night. It has a nice apple taste and there is some red coloring in the flesh close to the skin on one side. I am not sure if these apples will get any bigger when the tree does get some height and fullness to it. Not a bad size apple but not as a big of an apple as I had hoped it would be, so far.
So the ripening date(s) for me here in zone 6b is approximately early August. Of course we have had a horribly hot and humid summer with temps in the high 90’s to 100’s for weeks at a time. This may have had some effect on when they ripen. So we will see at the years go on.
Of the 5 I had on my one small tree only two are left. One came off when I checked to see if they were ripe, one somehow is just " gone", one dropped off and it was ran over by the lawnmower. The last one is still hanging on the tree. I am trying to just leave it until it actually just comes off by being " ripe". So it looks like they are ripe her probably mid-ish August here in zone 6b.
Ive been picking mine for the last few days. Definitely a multi pick type variety.
Watch out for moldy core. In my area it will get it a lot, see second pic.
Apple #1 dropped on August 1st. I let it sit on the counter for 4 days. It had some flavor and sweetness - nothing exceptional compared to fall apples, but definitely better than the store-bought Honeycrisp from Chile (which I assume was a 2025 crop).
WP wasn’t very crisp, probably due to the time spent on the counter.
Apple #2 was picked and tasted on August 6th. It was crisper than Apple #1 but inferior in flavor and sweetness. I think it needed more time on the tree.
I’ll update this post as I taste the remaining apples.
Not related to Williams Pride, but rather to ripening dates.
USDA zone means little IME. I have a buddy growing many of the same apple varieties as I do about 40 miles away. Our ripening dates for some varieties will vary by 10 days-2 weeks some years. Same USDA zone. Latitudes very similar. He’s on light sandy soil and very few elevation changes. Soil here is heavier and the terrain is hilly/rolling. His trees wake up and get growing a week or more before mine many years.
I have picked all my William’s Pride apples. Waited until they got a bit darker. I wish I had more apples so I would be less impatient with the ones I have.
