Aldi Cox's Orange Pippin

[digon]

My two Aldi Cox trees fruited for the first time this year but I'm not sure they are the variety that they are supposed to be.
The fruit from both trees are very large, approx 3" diameter. They have a very light texture with a nice crunch and are very juicey, however they are very bland and have only been sweet enough to eat over the last three weeks.
They started dropping from the tree last weekend in the wind.
Does anyone have any ideas what variety they are likely to be?

[darcyvuqua]

Dunno mate

But they look great


Sent from my iPhone using Grow Your Own Forum

[BUFFS]

My two Aldi Cox trees fruited for the first time this year but I'm not sure they are the variety that they are supposed to be.
The fruit from both trees are very large, approx 3" diameter. They have a very light texture with a nice crunch and are very juicey, however they are very bland and have only been sweet enough to eat over the last three weeks.
They started dropping from the tree last weekend in the wind.
Does anyone have any ideas what variety they are likely to be?

I found the same with my apples this year, they looked great but tasted bland, i put it down to the long winter/spring we had, we will have to see what they taste like next year, if we get a reasonable summer...good luck with your fruit..

[orangepippin]

They don't look like Cox. Cox is one of the easier apple varieties to identify, as it is usually a nice clean round spherical shape, and often slightly flattened.

The ones in your photo have distinctive ribbing which is very un-Cox-like. Many apples have this sort of ribbing, but one obvious candidate - particularly given that you say the size is fairly large - would be Belle de Boskoop. Since a lot of cheap trees come from Holland, and since Belle de Boskoop is practically the Dutch national apple, that would be my guess.

[boundtothesoil]

I agree with orangepippin - definitely not Cox's. I've never seen a Belle de Boskoop, but it sounds a likely candidate. What about an undercoloured, wet climate, Braeburn - the left hand apple on the left side photo reminds me of the Braeburns on my small tree?

[digon]

I found the same with my apples this year, they looked great but tasted bland, i put it down to the long winter/spring we had, we will have to see what they taste like next year, if we get a reasonable summer...good luck with your fruit..

Thank's for replying Buffs but I don't think the bland taste of my apples is down to the weather this time as I grafted one of the 'Cox' leaders over with a two inch piece of Golden Harvey back in February and the scion only went and produced two apples in it's first year! These two apples tasted lovely and sweet despite the rest of the apples on the tree being bland.

[digon]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
Bound to the soil the trees are in a cordon up against a sheltered SW facing fence and after looking at Braeburn images on the web I'm thinking if they were Braeburn they would have more red colouration.
I checked out Orange pippins suggestion of Belle de Boskoop and this does sound like the one. All the apples where large and ribbed, most had some russetting at the stalk end and also the blossom was a pale pink colour which matches the descriptions I read.

[Bigmallly]

I've never seen Belle de Boskoop at Aldi.

The varieties you tend to see are: Bramley, Elstar, Cox's, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious & Braeburn.

There may be 1 or 2 others but can't remember.

Hope this helps narrow it down.

[orangepippin]

I agree BdB *apples* are not often seen in the UK, but the supply channels for apples (i.e. fruit) have no connection with the way discount fruit trees are supplied.

[digon]

I've never seen Belle de Boskoop at Aldi.

The varieties you tend to see are: Bramley, Elstar, Cox's, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious & Braeburn.

There may be 1 or 2 others but can't remember.

Hope this helps narrow it down.

When I got the trees I was at Aldi early to pick the best ones and they where all sealed in bags and clearly labeled as Cox's. They wheren't the tail end ones which have often lost there labels.
I've read before about the stories of these supermarket trees being garden centre old stock/ uncertain varieties entering the supply chain and end up incorrectly labelled. Strange though that both my trees are the same variety but not Cox's when they were both labelled as Cox's.

[Nynke]

The fruittrees which are sold by Aldi, are often not the variety they promise to be.

[yummersetter]

Its funny, when people get wrongly labelled trees from specialist fruit nurseries they scream and shout, but when its from a supermarket its just a shrug and tut. Same amount of time and garden space wasted whilst the tree grows and fruits, and that's far more valuable than the cost of the tree.

[alldigging]

Its funny, when people get wrongly labelled trees from specialist fruit nurseries they scream and shout, but when its from a supermarket its just a shrug and tut. Same amount of time and garden space wasted whilst the tree grows and fruits, and that's far more valuable than the cost of the tree.

Probably cos they are four quid at Aldi and at least five times as much at a nursery.

[digon]

I agree with orangepippin - definitely not Cox's. I've never seen a Belle de Boskoop, but it sounds a likely candidate. What about an undercoloured, wet climate, Braeburn - the left hand apple on the left side photo reminds me of the Braeburns on my small tree?

Boundtothesoil are your Braeburn, large ribbed apples and do they have pink blossom?
Bigmally reminded me that one of the Aldi varieties was Braeburn so if Braeburn is already in the supply chain it could be a likely candidate for mislabeling.

[yummersetter]

Probably cos they are four quid at Aldi and at least five times as much at a nursery.

The purchase price difference is about £15. Well worth it for a non mass-produced UK product. I think the additional nursery price for a high quality tree that could last your lifetime and that of your children and grandchildren is not worth worrying about. If your tree fruited in a few weeks of planting and you knew immediately it wasn't the variety it said on the label, fine, but I resent it when its taken another tree's space for a year or two first.