best tasting apple poll

[FB.]

That's also my experience in East Yorkshire. Spartan is always reliable, crops heavily, and the apples are a real delight.

Very fertile, too.
It's a bit biennial. It produces a large number of "lunchbox" sized apples in one year, followed by an acceptable quantity of normal sized apples the next year.
A sunny mild autumn (which Eastern England tends to get) ripens the fruit to perfection. In dull autumns the fruit can taste metallic.
Fortunately, even in this awful year we had a sunny spell in September which probably really helped the Spartans ripen properly.

[yummersetter]

The great thing for me about this forum is that you get a picture of how much apples differ across the country. We cut a Spartan down last year to prevent further suffering, it was positively arthritic with dreadful canker. I don't know what rootstock it was on but at 50-60 years old the trunk was no more than eight inches in diameter. And to add to its problems, someone in the 1960s had grafted a Morgan Sweet onto it (as a stem thickener?) so it had a huge vigorous tree growing from six feet up! I cut that out five years ago but still got no decent growth on the Spartan, and they tasted unremarkable.

We juiced two large barrowfuls of Kidds last week and only had to cut maggot / insect damage out of four apples. Although less ripe than usual, the juice is better for being a touch less sugary.

This is an impossible poll as every week there'd be a different choice. I spotted a lone, late apple on the old James Grieve (its an 'off year for that tree) and it was as if a whole tree's worth of flavour was concentrated in that one fruit. I cut it up and shared it and everyone said it was the best apple they'd ever tasted.

[Matt94]

well my favourite isn't on their (red devil - it has red flesh - we have one in the garden), but my second favourite also isn't on there (pink lady), luckily my third is (discovery) - so i suppose i will have to vote for that one!

[FB.]

I find Red Devil (and its "sister" Scrumptious) suffers many of Discovery's problems, such as codling moth, waps, ants and severe bitter pit.
It's not very common for my Red Devil to produce red flesh for me - no more common than some pinkish staining just under the skin which I sometimes find on Discovery.
The few Red Devil fruit which aren't riddled with bitter pit often have an overpowering bordering on unpleasant medicinal-alcoholic-aniseed taste.
Whether its MM106 rootstock is part of the problem would not surprise me, since MM106 really doesn't do well for me; lacking vigour, prone to root diseases which can eventually kill the tree and encourages bitter pit even on varieties which aren't noted for bitter pit.

I find Scumptious to be very prone to severe woolly aphid attacks. Discovery is also prone. Scrumptious' other parent - Golden Delicious - is resistant to woolly aphid but has no special resistance to scab and perhaps partial resistance to canker and mildew.
I haven't noticed the woolly aphid problem on Red Devil but it could just be random luck that it has escaped. Both Red Devil and Scrumptious - and their parent Discovery - have no major disease weaknesses - with partial resistance to scab and canker and strong resistance to mildew.

[Tam]

My favourite apple for taste is Pitmaston Pineapple, by a long chalk.

[bearded bloke]

Only got room for one tree in the garden so planted a Lord Lambourne as it is wifey's all time favourite

[orangepippin]

I find Red Devil (and its "sister" Scrumptious) suffers many of Discovery's problems, such as codling moth, waps, ants and severe bitter pit.

I would call these half-sisters not sisters. Red Devil is Discovery x Kent. Scrumptious is Golden Delicious x Discovery. They share one but not both parents - sorry to be pedantic! My definition of true "sisters" would be Lord Lambourne and Katy, since they both share James Grieve and Worcester Pearmain parentage - but like human sisters, they are still very individual and different.

I also find Discovery and all its offspring to be reliable and disease-free here in East Yorkshire.

[yummersetter]

The title above the poll is 'What apple do you recommend to grow' and the Pink Lady tree is, I believe, unavailable to the general public as its a 'registered' apple and also isn't suited to the UK. According to the OrangePippin website

Pink Lady® requires a very long growing period and a hot climate, and hence is only grown in the warmer apple-growing regions of South Africa, USA, southern Europe - and of course Australia.

Of course, the thread title is 'best tasting apple poll' which might not be the same thing at all. I'd say confidently that to me, Cox or Queen Cox are the best tasting apples but not that the tree is easy to grow.

[Matt94]

I find Red Devil (and its "sister" Scrumptious) suffers many of Discovery's problems, such as codling moth, waps, ants and severe bitter pit.

Really, our tree has never suffered from any of those and its over 10 years old. And regarding the taste, i've handed it out to many people over the years and they've said its one of the best apples they've eaten!

I personally like the taste as i think it tastes a bit like cherry?

But i suppose differen't people prefer different tastes, as im sure this poll will prove.

[Matt94]

The title above the poll is 'What apple do you recommend to grow'. Of course, the thread title is 'best tasting apple poll' .

oops i didn't see 'what apple do you recommend to grow'. I answered the poll regarding taste.

[Matt94]

oh and regarding pink lady not being sold to the public - theres a site here that sells it;
Apple Pink Lady® Blackmoor Nurseries

[FB.]

Really, our tree has never suffered from any of those and its over 10 years old. And regarding the taste, i've handed it out to many people over the years and they've said its one of the best apples they've eaten!

I personally like the taste as i think it tastes a bit like cherry?

But i suppose differen't people prefer different tastes, as im sure this poll will prove.

More likely the difference is the climate, the soil and the rootstock.
In some years the Red Devil's are acceptable as a Discovery-like flavour, but all too often they taste like TCP (antiseptic) and are riddled with bitter pit - so get chopped into halves and thrown out for the birds because nobody will eat them.

I would not be sorry if it died and I would not bother to plant another Red Devil.

If I were to grow it again (which I definitely wouldn't bother) I would consider NOT using MM106 rootstock which, as mentioned earlier: in my soil (where growing conditions aren't ideal) MM106 seems to make bitter pit much worse and cause non-bitter-pit-prone varieties to suffer from it. M25 rootstock trees do not suffer bitter pit in my soil, even when growing strongly and fruiting simultaneously.

[yummersetter]

oh and regarding pink lady not being sold to the public - theres a site here that sells it;
Apple Pink Lady® Blackmoor Nurseries

Sorry, should have checked! Relying on memory, never as accurate as Google, is it?

[Matt94]

M25 rootstock trees do not suffer bitter pit in my soil, even when growing strongly and fruiting simultaneously.

aah, i think ours is on M25 rootstock, as we've had it for 10 years and its only around 10ft tall (but thats with pruning it annually), so i dont know maybe it is down to the rootstock

[Dusty Rhodes]

I don't know if Courtland is available in your area, but it's one of my favourites. It produces a large apple that is fine for eating fresh and makes great applesauce/apple pie...i.e. all arounder.