Apple irish peach

[Pineberry]

Apple irish peach
Can anyone give their view on the quality of this apple.
I am trying to select something different, already got

Sunset
Golden delicious
Spartan
Falstaff
Winter gem
Flamenco
Braubern
And unknown one on the lottie

Or maybe another early apple that would store for a bit.

[orangepippin]

Given your existing collection, I think Irish Peach would be a worthwhile addition as all your others are fairly late ripening. It has good disease resistance credentials, very good flavour (for an early variety) and is a good example of a tip-bearing apple.

FB will be able to advise on how it performs in the Cambridgeshire area.

[FB.]

FB will be able to advise on how it performs in the Cambridgeshire area.

It's outstanding. I would not be without one. I'd choose Irish Peach over any of the other really early varieties.

It has quite good resistance to virtually all pests and diseases, and doesn't seem to be troubled by the bitter pit problems which plague other earlies such as Beauty of Bath or Discovery, nor does it suffer as much from the codling maggots which can trouble Discovery in some seasons.

However, unlike Discovery (and rather like Beauty of Bath) the fruit of Irish Peach has a shelf-life of only a few days, and will drop off the tree the moment it is ripe.

Most importantly, it is highly resistant to woolly aphids (I hate to say "immune" because any variety's resistance can be broken by new strains of pests and disease), which are a severe pest of apples in milder, drier climates such as here in Cambs; disfiguring young trees by causing bark splits, brittle wood which breaks and generally sucking the life out of the tree.

As noted by orangepippin, Irish Peach produces quite a lot of fruit on the ends of branches, although unlike what "the books" say, I find it also produces some fruit on spurs too.
The significant amount of tip-bearing means it may not be suitable for training, so would be better as a bush, half-standard or standard.

The tree itself tends to be quite straggling as a result of long slender branches with fruit at the tips which bends them down. The blossom is slightly pinker than usual for an apple, but not to the extent of Brownlees Russet.
Irish Peach - like Beauty of Bath and Discovery - is also likely to be an outstanding pollinator for other early-flowering and middle-flowering apples. But all three of the aforementioned varieties are not particularly cross-compatible with each other.

[Pineberry]

Thank you for both of your expert opinions, highly appreciated.
Have just ordered one. Look forward to some harvest now

[Pineberry]

The tree available as 1 year maiden only, could I train as a cordon myself? If yes, how do I do it?

[FB.]

Which rootstock have your ordered it on?

Irish Peach will be more difficult than average to train as a cordon - but do-able.
The key to keeping a tip-bearer compact is to create lots of branching in its early years.

So I would suggest:

1. Prune it down to where you want the lowest side branches to form.

2. It will probably send out about four new shoots from just below the pruning cut. Train one of these upwards (or rather train it in the same direction as the main stem - cordons are usually planted at an angle, but some people plant them upright) and let the other lower shoots grow out sideways.
The tree should behave like this anyway so you shouldn't need to take any action, but you must intervene by tying shoots to canes if it doesn't behave itself.

3. During the growing season, when the leading shoot has grown about 6-8 inches (15-20cm) pinch-out the tip (just pinch off the tip - about half-inch/1cm).

4. Similar to above, when the side shoots have grown about 4 inches (10) pinch the tip off them.

The above will help create profuse branching, which is ideal for getting lots of branch tips, upon which it may produce fruit during 2014. You may also find that this will induce a tip-bearer to form spurs for the following season on the buds further back along the new shoots.

During its first year (this year), do not allow it to fruit and keep it very well-fed and very well-watered in order to fuel strong growth to quickly get those branches growing and get the thing up to shape and size.

However, I am assuming that you've chosen something like M26 rootstock (a good choice for small to medium cordons). Other rootstocks may require different management to match training and pruning to their natural vigour.

[Pineberry]

Yeah rootstock, ordered it from ashridge nursery. Does not specify rootstock, but from the their info on rootstock says that they use mm106 mostly. So I presume it is mm106

[FB.]

Ah.

MM106 is an erratic performer in East Anglia, very much depending on the soil.
MM106 makes big trees on soils which retain moisture with plentiful rainfall, but may be lucky to make a small cordon on soils which don't hold moisture or where rainfall is low.

Therefore Irish Peach on MM106 could be difficult to decide how to manage it; if the MM106 sends out masses of new shoots in a wet year, the tip-bearing nature of Irish Peach will make size control difficult because pruning will remove the next season's crop.

But not pruning will risk it getting bigger and bigger.

Notice that what I referred to earlier was a lower-vigour (but more predictable) rootstock <M26> and careful use of pinching-out certain shoot tips at certain times.

[Pineberry]

Thank you FB, I will follow your instruction. But next time I will be more careful regarding which rootstock to purchase.