What apple tree to plant ?

[beaufontboy]

Hi all, The good news is the oak tree has come down so we are looking good for fire wood and now there is space for an apple tree of two :-) My wife is uber keen of Pink Lady flavour , so could anyone help me out but suggesting some thing similar ? Would Katy / Early Windsor be close ? The space is good for sun, size maybe M26 or MM106
Thank you Stuart

[FB.]

It's not always a case of 'I want to grow' - it is often a case of 'what will be healthy and productive in this soil and climate?'.
Not all varieties do well in all soils and climates; 'foreign' varieties are often not well-suited to the relatively cool, dull, damp UK climate while most 'supermarket' varieties are quite prone to pest and disease problems which may require spraying to keep the tree healthy and productive.

There are a couple of forum posters (e.g. the forum member 'Boundtothesoil') who grow their trees out your way. I understand that MM106 is excellent in their climate; possibly the ideal rootstock choice for them, although it does not do well in my soil and climate here in the drier East (MM111 being the ideal choice here for a MM106-size tree).

In your climate I would be wary of varieties known to suffer from canker and scab, especially in acidic soils.
Again, demonstrating how climates vary; my main 'disease' problems are mildew and woolly aphid which can quickly ruin a young tree (problem which 'the books' tend to dismiss). What grows well in the West doesn't always do well here and vice-versa.

The forum member 'Orangepippin' is probably going to be more up-to-date on the similarities in flavours of modern varieties.

[boundtothesoil]

There are a couple of forum posters (e.g. the forum member 'Boundtothesoil') who grow their trees out your way. I understand that MM106 is excellent in their climate;

As FB says, I'm growing near Aberystwyth - lots of rain, wettish clay soil, lots of scab and canker around

I've tried out quite a lot of traditional and older commercial varieties over the last twenty years or so, and the desert ones that have produced the best flavoured, consistently high yielding and scab free crops here are:- Discovery, Lord Lambourne and Sunset. Ellison's Orange also do very well here, but suffer from moderate to severe Codling Moth every year. Beauty of Bath is the most disease-free variety I have grown, but the flavour is poor.

I have had mixed results with Katy - lovely flavour, but pretty prone to scab and canker for me (just like Worcester Pearmain).

I grow on MM106 which produces trees around 10 ft high for me. I have done some side by side comparisons with M26 but this only seems to make it to 5-6 ft here.

[beaufontboy]

Thankyou both, will do some research :-)

[Shroomy]

Have a look at Tickled Pink we were told it was a new one last year so put one in earlier in the year the apple is supposed to be red/pink all the way through

[bearded bloke]

I'm in Shropshire near the Welsh border (so similar soil & weather) Lord Lambourne does well for us