I am interested in getting a yates apple however I already have problems with deer will the yates apple attract them to my fruit trees even more. I asked this because based upon information I read some people plant them to attract deer. I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Dave
1 Like
If you find a variety that does not attract deer please let me know.
2 Likes
In my area Yates is planted for deer because it is late ripening and reported to be disease resistant. The tree like most all apples is prone to being munched on by deer until the canopy is out of reach.
1 Like
Agreed. Yates is no more tasty to dear than any other apple variety. But, it hangs on the tree into the new year and gives a great feeding station so I am sure the hunters really like it.
1 Like
Thanks JDARL, Auburn and Scott. I think I am going to order the tree.
Hoping to spark up some more discussion on Yates apple here - can anyone who has been growing this apple tell us more about it in regards to taste and disease resistance? I have one 1-2 years old growing on a seedling rootstock from BlueHille Wildlife Nursery, so it will be a while until I get to try it out myself.
Sure.
In terms of disease resistance it’s about as good as it gets. There are almost no rots on it and it doesn’t get much firelight or CAR.
The texture is like your average apple, not super crispy but not soft either. The skin is average on the thin/crip vs rubbery/thick scale as well, something like Red Delicious for example.
In terms of taste, before getting into that you need to make sure they have been well-ripened and well-aged. Mine I harvest in late November and I don’t really eat them until January. I would say the closest apple for taste is Hubbardston Nonesuch, which may not mean a lot if you don’t know that apple. They have a light rose/raspberry aromatic flavor and are very sweet (often over 20 brix for me). They don’t make my top-10 list as they are not a “wow” apple but I really enjoy them. One reason why I enjoy them so much is I am eating them until the next year’s apple crop comes in, they store well through the following summer. The only other apple that has stored that long for me is GoldRush.
I expect it would be a leading apple if it were not so small. I actually like how small they are, they are a lot easier to eat without a knife.
3 Likes
… I thought I would take a picture of my tree now as I wanted to check on how it was doing anyway.
You can see that I let the tree set quite a bit, the apples are small so I don’t thin much (if I thin more they are not appreciably bigger).
I tasted one and they are further along than they usually are this time of year, I am 1-2 weeks ahead of the usual. They are perfectly edible now but a bit starchy. If there was a hard freeze tonight and I had to pick them all today they would be great in January.
5 Likes