"New" Apple Variety -- Help

[Garden_Chris]

Hi Guys,

I've been reading through Blackmoors website, and stumbled upon a new apple variety (well, new to me): Apple Tentation Blackmoor Nurseries

I've done a Google search on it, but I was wondering if anyone had any personal experience growing and/or eating it? I've read that it's highly popular and grown in New Zealand, but I've not been able to ascertain much about it's growth, popularity, or disease resistance in the UK.

I was going to purchase one for myself and just felt I ought to be a little more informed before doing so. The Orange skin really looks unique (although whether this is capable of being produced in the UK, I'm unsure -- apparently the more 'Orange-y' hue is predominantly witnessed in New Zealand).

Any able to help me out?

Cheers.

[orangepippin]

I have one Tentation tree on M9 here in Yorkshire. It has never really looked happy here. Flavour is so-so - not as good as the ones you get in the shops, because I don't think it ever gets quite ripe here.

We have never got the characteristic orange flush, but I am not surprised because I think it would require warm days and cool nights in September and October to achieve it. Tentation is basically Golden Delicious, and in some climates Golden Delicious can also get a golden flush, e.g. those grown in the Limousin area of France which has a very warm autumn climate but is quite high up so gets cold at night. I imagine parts of New Zealand are similar.

I think it is probably quite productive (like Golden Delicious) on the more vigorous rootstocks - in hindsight our M9 is too weak for this variety for the northern UK. I also have Golden Delicious and Goldrush, both of which seem happier here than Tentation .

In summary I would go ahead, it will be fun to try, but I don't think you will be putting the New Zealand growers out of business!

[yummersetter]

I was at an RHS Fruit Group meeting a few years back when a chap from Delbard in France was promoting Tentation and another apple I've forgotten. I sampled them and took a Tentation apple home, but because I don't go for the Golden Delicious type much, never bothered to eat it. Three months later it was still on the table, unchanged, no rot, no wrinkles. I don't know if home-grown, untreated apples would be the same or if it was just the ones for the promotion that had Eternal Life!

[orangepippin]

I think this is a characteristic of Golden Delicious and other varieties related to it.

Golden Delicious is long overdue a reappraisal.

[FB.]

I both love and hate Golden Delicious, from a spray-free UK grower's perspective.

It isn't troubled by my main pest - woolly aphid (a pest of mild locations).
Nor is it troubled by canker.
It can be a very good pollinator for some varieties.

It is erratic for mildew - some years resistant and some years rather prone to it.
Same with scab - the fruits are sometimes scabby, but in most years they are OK. I doubt that it would remain scab-free in wetter regions.
Even in the usually-dry region where I live, the leaves are always a nasty brown mess from severe scab, which is unsightly and de-vigorating to the tree.

It also seems to be severely affected by low potassium levels in the soil, and blossoming suffers much more than any other variety I've yet encountered; it'll simply stop blossoming for years on end, until potassium is supplied.
I've never encountered such a "potash-demanding" variety (as they call it). Others considered to be "potash-demanding" such as Beauty of Bath, Grenadier and Spartan are nowhere near as bad as Golden Delicions.

Potassium (or lack of) may also be the reason why its disease resistance is erratic; since potassium has been implicated in disease resistance as well as production of flowers and fruits.