best tasting apple poll

[FB.]

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

Just as certain varieties perform well in certain climates (e.g. Grenadier in a cool wet climate, Tydeman's Orange in a hot dry climate) and just as certain varieties prefer certain soils (e.g. Annie Elizabeth likes clay while Barnack Orange likes chalk) the same applies to rootstocks.

The stronger the rootstock, the better its ability to find the nutrients that the tree and the fruit require - and therefore the better the fruit quality and the healthier and more resilient the tree. Of course, those blessed with good soil will find that dwarf roots don't have any issues finding what they need.
One exception would be vigorous rootstocks in wet areas may encourage more canker due to lots of new growth and their tendency to continue growing later in the year in wet autumn weather.

[orangepippin]

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

Try adding it to your basket ...

[orangepippin]

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.

Cortland is not usually available in the UK, but it is quite close to Spartan in flavour and closely related to it - Spartan has been mentioned elsewhere in this topic.

[Matt94]

yep just tried it - but it does say they stock it!

[yummersetter]

Its there via your link, but if you wander the site, look in apples, or search 'pink lady' it isn't to be seen anywhere.

[Matt94]

Its there via your link, but if you wander the site, look in apples, or search 'pink lady' it isn't to be seen anywhere.

this one allows you to order (although it is in america, so they may not post to UK )
Pink Lady Apple Tree - Southern Apple Trees | Standard Apple Trees | Apple-Specialty Trees - Willis Orchard Company

[orangepippin]

The American grower's licence for this variety will not allow them to sell trees to the UK, and in any case there are major phytosanitary and quarantine restrictions.

[Matt94]

The American grower's licence for this variety will not allow them to sell trees to the UK, and in any case there are major phytosanitary and quarantine restrictions.

I was just stating that the trees are on the market

[boundtothesoil]

My single variety 'to grow' would be James Grieve, particularly in the wetter areas of the UK. It is one of the juiciest apples to eat straight off the tree, yields pretty reliably, and stays on the tree for several weeks during its ripening period. It's also pretty good in terms of having apples at different stages of ripeness at a given time, allowing you to choose between a more acidic taste and a sweeter one. It's also a reasonable cooker and although moderately prone to scab in wet years (at least where I grow it in west Wales), around half the apples stay pretty much disease free. It's also easy to bite into compared with many varieties picked straight off the tree.

In terms of 'best tasting bites', again picked straight off the tree fully ripe, it would be Ellison's Orange and Sunset for me.

If you were doing a 'best tasting ' poll you'd also have to consider whether it was tasting straight off the tree, or after the optimum storage period for flavour development, plus whether you were talking bites or slices!

[yummersetter]

The original Which poll that was the inspiration for this one had Pixie at top of the list. It was conducted in mid-October and Pixie is ripe, after storage, in December

[boundtothesoil]

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.

There's an interesting article 'What makes an apple taste good?' on page 2 of the 2008 Newsletter produced by the 'Midwest Apple Improvement Association.' In case you don't know of this. These are a group of growers and academics in the US that got together a few years ago to start a low cost grower-based apple breeding program. Their newsletters contain lots of interesting stuff about breeding varieties like Honeycrisp, environmental problems, and the use of apple collections from places like Kazakstan. If you google you used to be able to access all the newsletters freely. However, I've just tried to find them and it seems that the association has either removed all the content or is in the process or updating their website. It might have sometyhing to do with the fact they've just launched their first new (licenced!!!) variety. Money, money, money. Fortunately the 2008 newsletter is still viewable at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/82545168...NT-ASSOCIATION.

[yummersetter]

A lot of the apples I've really enjoyed for flavour this autumn have been of a common type - open eyed, russetty, pineapple flavoured. ( Orleans Reinette, Princesse, Somerset Golden Russet, Ashmeads Kernel, Blenheim) - which matches some of the predictions in that article. I wonder if they have shared ancestry? They are also look like a different species to the apples you see for sale in supermarkets, only a good Cox comes near

[boundtothesoil]

A lot of the apples I've really enjoyed for flavour this autumn have been of a common type - open eyed, russetty, pineapple flavoured. ( Orleans Reinette, Princesse, Somerset Golden Russet, Ashmeads Kernel, Blenheim) - which matches some of the predictions in that article. I wonder if they have shared ancestry? They are also look like a different species to the apples you see for sale in supermarkets, only a good Cox comes near

Interesting. I came across an article titled 'Inbreeding in modern apple cultivation' by HJ Bannier,
translated from German and referenced on the suttonelms Diversity website as :

Inbreeding/genetic narrowing in modern apple cultivation, DIVERSITY website

Well worth a read, although it's probably been mentioned on this forum before. Essentially, the author investigated 500 commercial varieties (European/USA types) developed since 1920 and found that most are descended from Golden Delicious, Cox's Orange Pippin, Jonathan, McIntosh, Red Delicious or James Grieve - a pretty narrow genetic base, with all that means for disease resistance etc. Many have more than one of these varieties amongst their ancestors. I'm pretty sure than none of your highly flavoured choices are amongst them, not that I've checked.

[fruitylou]

I've voted for discovery, but only on taste (and not even from apples from my own tree), I have 2 discovery trees of 2 years old and both years the wasps have had the apples before they are ripe and this year one of them seemed to get a bit sick in early autumn, will have to what until spring to see if whatever it is has stuck around.

[FB.]

this year one of them seemed to get a bit sick in early autumn

Do you have any pictures, or can you describe what made you suspect it was sick?