Apple

Tree facts

Scientific name

Malus domestica

Origin

Central Asia (the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan)

Tree size

Standard 20–30 ft; semi-dwarf 12–15 ft; dwarf 6–10 ft, depending on rootstock

Growth rate

Medium

Sun

Full sun

Soil

Deep, well-drained loam. Doesn't tolerate wet feet.

Soil pH

6.0–7.0

Pollination

Needs a second apple or crabapple that blooms at the same time. Low-chill types pair with each other, such as Anna with Dorsett Golden.

Cold hardiness

Dormant trees are very hardy (many to -20°F or below); open blossoms are killed by frost near 28°F

USDA zones

4–8 for most; low-chill cultivars 8–9 and parts of 10

Years to first fruit

2–5, sooner on dwarfing rootstock

Season

Jun–Oct

Water

About every 10 days once established, without rain; more in heat, in pots and while young

Feeding

About every 120 days, Mar–May

Pruning

Jan–Feb

Taste

Crisp and juicy, from honey-sweet to sharply tart

Nutrition

Good fiber (pectin, much of it in the skin), vitamin C and polyphenols

Is apple safe to eat? Edible and toxic parts

What you can eat

• Ripe fruit, raw or cooked, skin included
• Juice and cider
• Dried slices

Toxic parts and cautions

• Take care: Apple seeds contain amygdalin, which releases cyanide when the seeds are crushed or chewed. A few swallowed whole seeds are harmless, but don't eat chewed seeds in quantity or grind cores into juices and smoothies.
• Good to know: People allergic to birch pollen often get an itchy mouth from raw apples (oral allergy syndrome). Cooked apples are usually fine.
• Good to know: Fresh, unpasteurized cider can carry E. coli, especially if made from fallen fruit. Use picked fruit, or heat the cider before serving to children and older adults.

Pets: The flesh is a fine treat for dogs and horses in moderation. Seeds, stems and leaves contain cyanogenic compounds, so core the apple first, and keep horses from gorging on fallen fruit, which can cause colic.

How to eat and enjoy apple

• Fresh, sliced, with cheese or peanut butter
• Apple pie, crisp and cobbler
• Applesauce and apple butter
• Cider and juice
• Dried apple rings
• Tarte Tatin (France)

Apple varieties (10)

• Anna

  The best-known low-chill apple: a crisp, sweet-tart green apple with a red blush that fruits in much of Florida.

  Origin: Israel, 1950s · Taste: Sweet-tart, crisp · Season: Jun–Jul · Size: Medium

  About 200–300 chill hours. Needs an early-blooming pollinizer such as Dorsett Golden or Ein Shemer. May bloom again in fall.

• Dorsett Golden · also Dorset Golden

  A golden apple much like Golden Delicious, found in Nassau, with very low chill needs.

  Origin: Bahamas, 1950s · Taste: Sweet, mild, crisp · Season: Jun–Jul · Size: Medium

  About 100–250 chill hours; the usual pollinizer for Anna.

• Ein Shemer

  A crisp, tart, yellow-green low-chill apple, often planted alongside Anna.

  Origin: Israel · Taste: Tart, crisp · Season: Jun–Jul · Size: Medium

  About 300–400 chill hours; a good pollinizer for Anna.

• Fuji

  A Red Delicious × Ralls Janet cross: very sweet, dense, crisp and a long keeper.

  Origin: Japan; crossed in the 1930s, released in 1962 · Taste: Very sweet, crisp · Season: Oct–Nov · Size: Medium to large

  Ripens late and needs a long season. Chill is usually listed at 400–600 hours.

• Gala

  A red-striped apple with mild, sweet, aromatic flesh, one of the most widely grown apples in the world.

  Origin: New Zealand, 1930s · Taste: Sweet, mild, aromatic · Season: Aug–Sep · Size: Small to medium

  Needs about 500–600 chill hours.

• Golden Delicious

  A yellow, sweet, all-purpose apple and a parent of many modern cultivars.

  Origin: West Virginia, 1914 · Taste: Sweet, mild · Season: Sep–Oct · Size: Medium to large

  Partly self-fertile and a widely used pollinizer. Needs about 600–700 chill hours.

• Granny Smith

  The bright green, sharply tart apple, great for baking and for eating fresh.

  Origin: Australia, 1860s · Taste: Very tart, crisp · Season: Oct–Nov · Size: Medium to large

  Needs a long, warm season to ripen. Chill is usually listed around 400–600 hours.

• Honeycrisp

  An explosively crisp, very juicy apple that became one of America's favorites.

  Origin: Minnesota; crossed in 1960, released in 1991 · Taste: Sweet-tart, very crisp · Season: Aug–Sep · Size: Large

  Needs about 800–1,000 chill hours, so it won't fruit in Florida or on the Gulf Coast. Very cold-hardy.

• Pink Lady · also Cripps Pink

  A Golden Delicious × Lady Williams cross with pink-blushed skin and crisp, tangy-sweet flesh.

  Origin: Western Australia; crossed in 1973 · Taste: Tangy-sweet, crisp · Season: Oct–Nov · Size: Medium

  Ripens very late. Chill is usually listed around 400–500 hours.

• Tropic Sweet

  A UF-bred low-chill apple with sweet, mild, low-acid fruit.

  Origin: Florida (UF), 1990s · Taste: Sweet, mild · Season: Jun–Jul · Size: Medium

  About 250–300 chill hours. Pollinate with Anna or Dorsett Golden.

Pests and diseases to watch for

• Powdery mildew

  White powdery coating on flower stalks, young leaves and tiny fruit; flowers dry up and fall.

  What to do: Sulfur or potassium bicarbonate spray at the first white patches.

• Fire blight

  Blossoms and shoot tips turn black as if scorched; shoot tips bend into a shepherd's crook.

  What to do: Prune infected shoots 8–12 inches below the damage in dry weather, disinfecting tools between cuts.

• Scale insects

  Small bumps, waxy or shell-like, on stems and leaf veins; sticky honeydew and black sooty mold below.

  What to do: Scrub small colonies off with a soft brush.

• Mealybugs

  White cottony clusters in leaf joints, under leaves and on fruit stems; honeydew and sooty mold.

  What to do: Blast off with a strong spray of water.

• Aphids

  Clusters of tiny soft insects on new shoots; leaves curl and get sticky.

  What to do: Spray off with water.

• Sooty mold

  Black, papery film on leaves and fruit that wipes off; it grows on honeydew.

  What to do: Control the insects making honeydew; the mold then weathers away.