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Fruit & Orchards

Best disease-resistant apple that tastes like Golden Delicious?

13 years ago

I would like to plant some more Starkspur Golden apple trees next year, but they easily get disease here, and I would like to cut down the amount of spraying as much as possible. But I don't want to grow "improved" cultivars if they don't taste the same.

I'm looking for:

1) One that grows well in zone 4.

2) One that is resistant to fireblight and preferably scab as well.

3) One that has the same taste of Starkspur Golden (which has the exact same taste as the original Golden Delicious in my opinion) or something very similar.

4) And preferably one that is a spur-type or at least bears well.

5) And it has to be available in the United States through mailorder, etc.

Personally, I don't care how the fruit looks. The apples could be completely covered in russetted bumps for all I care. It's the taste that I care about.

I've been looking at Sir Prize, Goldrush, and Candy Crisp, which are all being described as similar to Golden Delicious, but I have no idea how they taste. Some people say that Honeygold tastes like Golden Delicious, but it doesn't in my opinion. I know that there are a LOT of Golden Delicious offsprings and sports, but I don't have much of any experience with them.

Does anyone have any opinions?

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Comments (6)

kokos
13 years ago
goldrush, mutsu but goldrush is the most disease resistant
tedgrowsit
13 years ago
Goldrush is definitely a fantastic apple, but here in SE Pennsylvania they are harvested the very end of October and even into November. Are you sure your growing season is long enough in Zone 4? I am sure someone here will have a difinitive answer for that as well as good suggestions for your area. There are a host of good apples that resist disease.
Ted
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Hair metal, scab is no problem for me. I don't spray for it and I only get a little bit here and there. I have heard that scab is more a northern problem on apples; it can also be bad in the south but is not as likely to be. Fireblight on the other hand is a huge problem, as is CAR. Goldrush is a great apple for the mid-atlantic and it ripens here very well every year. It gets CAR badly however. In general I don't think the disease resistance breeding has been super helpful for us backyard mid-atlantic growers since scab is not a big problem and that is the main goal of the disease-resistance programs. On the other hand many apple varieties just can't "take the heat" or humidity. For example Akane is a wonderful tasting apple but the skin is just too easily penetrated by bugs and diseases and I get very few good fruits. My most bulletproof apple is an obscure old heirloom called Rambour d'Hiver, I harvest pretty much perfect apples from that tree every November. Scott
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Lifespeed: Yes, they are two names for the same apple. However, there are many different strains of GD developed over the years, some of which are quite different from one another. Most, if not all of these are the results of "sports", since crossing of the apples would result in a different apple. For the many years during which GD was a very popular commercial apple, the objective of breeders and growers was a clear-skinned apple with deep yellow color. Newer strains are more likely to be clear-skinned, or with minimal russeting, while the older strains, while not as attractive, might have better flavor and better keeping qualities. So you still might have some choices to make in the source of your scionwood. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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I have grown Grimes Golden over the years. According to Virginia Vintage apple it is believed to be a parent of the yellow delicious. Also, since it is believed to have come out of the Blue Ridge Mountains,it may work for your zone. A Grimes still bears at my old home after over 30 years of neglect. When I was living there, my kids used to win ribbons at the county fair with this apple. I have the first fruit this year on my new Grimes. I don't ever remember having problems with disease. I never sprayed the first tree and still got great apples. I don't know what I did right, but it worked. A couple of years ago here, fire blight was a bear here and again don't recall any problem with the new Grimes.
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I live in zone 10 also - and have two apples here. They aren't growing in the lawn, however. They are both "low-chill" varieties - one is Dorset Golden, which looks a lot like a Delicious apple in shape, but has a slightly gold/yellow color to it, and I find - much better tasting than the commercial Delicious. It is on it's second year. I fertilize with compost tea - occasionally - not often, and both trees are growing in native soil. I do have good drainage in that area. The other apple, is called "Anna" and is also "low-chill" and is in the 3rd year. It was slow to produce the first couple of years, but I had a good crop this year, and the apples were excellent. It was slow to come out of hibernation, but when it did, it was very healthy looking. I would give these "low-chill" varieties about 3 years to establish. I don't water too often - but mulch heavily in summer. You might like these low-chill types better. I have heard that another apple Ein Scheimer - is also good here - and quite tasty. My only fault with Anna - is that it mushes up in apple pie, but I cut the pieces big and that seems to help. They also bubble a lot when canning apple sauce - but other than that, I can find no other complaint. Bejay
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rayrose
13 years ago
You might try Grimes Golden or Hopple's Antique Gold,
both of which are better than Golden D.
maryneedssleep
13 years ago
Goldrush is probably too late for Zone 4, although to me it tastes just like Golden Delicious (I don't like either of them).
However, to me at least, Mutsu and Grimes Golden don't taste anything like Golden Delicious, so they probably won't help Nick.

I think Nick is asking WHICH Golden Delicious strain to purchase, e.g. Gibsons Golden Delicious vs Mullins Golden Delicious, etc.

Nick, are you trying to sell organic produce, or are you able to get some help from your local university or coop extension in tweaking your spray schedule to decrease disease? In other words, how disease-resistant do these trees need to be?
quillfred
13 years ago
I am fond of my Chehalis tree which is thought to be a seedling of Golden Delicious. Some sites list it hardy to zone 4.
alan haigh
13 years ago
Goldrush tastes nothing like yellow delicious. YD is distintive for it's aroma and for it's low acid sweet taste. Goldrush doesn't share that particular aroma which I believe is unique to GD and Rush is loaded with acid, making it a much tastier apple to my acid loving palate- a top pick. Goldrush is harder, crisper and keeps much better for that reason.

Goldrush will not ripen on even a relatively long season in Z4, I would assume.

The original GD has some russeting, is not very disease susceptible and is amazingly unattractive to insects. The newer smooth skinned varieties don't share this and to me don't taste as good. Some of them ripen a couple weeks sooner.

Pristine is probably your best choice for disease resistance in a GD type apple but it doesn't keep well and matures in mid-summer here.

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