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| Apples for the Tropics Apples have
been grown in the tropics for years. Anna and
Dorsett Golden have been the standard varieties for forcing two to three
crops a year, but traditional northern varieties like Wealthy and Rome
Beauty have also found success in hot, humid climates like Thailand,
Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
From our trials I've picked 10 varieties and a pollinator that have
produced outstanding apples in our low-chill and high-heat climate.
They set reliable crops, blossoming in even 100 degree F. heat and
ripening during warm nights. All of them come into bearing young. Four of the selections are from the
PRI breeding program with built-in disease resistance. While each
location has its own micro-climate, I believe these selections give a
high chance of success in most tropic areas.
Scroll down to the bottom to see our inspection and shipping
procedures. You can see the full descriptions and history of these
apples on our Apple List page.
How to order Benchgrafts, Scionwood, and Budwood |
| Hawaii- Starting in early summer Hawaii will ripen for several
months, a trait that would be annoying for commercial growers but most
welcome in the home garden. It is sweet and delicious even when quite green, and holds
on through the worst of heat. The tree is extremely productive.
The texture was crisp and firm, and had a sweet, tropical taste.
Some slight sunburn does not affect the quality, but could harm its
commercial appeal. |
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| Williams' Pride- Ripening early summer, the
deep-red, almost purple apples are striking in appearance. They color up
well despite warm nights. The yellow flesh of
Williams'
Pride is crisp and spicy,
good for fresh use, cooking, and processing.
They keep fairly well for an early apple. Wait until the stem end is completely red to pick.
Field immune to Scab and Cedar Apple Rust, they are highly resistant to
fire blight and resistant to powdery mildew. A product of the PRI
(Purdue, Rutgers, University of Illinois)
breeding
program. Patent expired. |
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| Coop 41- Another product of the PRI breeding program,
Coop 41
was one of their "rejects" that did not impress them. But we found
it excellent in a hot climate, having a firm, crisp, sweet/spicy flavor.
Instead of coloring red as in the release photo, ours had a beautiful
straw color, almost a deep yellow. They ripened in late
summer/early fall. The fact that it is field-immune to scab also helps.
We received permission to rescue it from oblivion and distribute it, as
it shows great promise in hot climates. |
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| GoldRush- Described as the most intense experience you can
have with an apple,
GoldRush is extremely tart/sweet upon picking
(described as battery-acid tart) but
mellows after a month in storage to a pleasing complexity that keeps
very well up to seven months. It requires a very long season and
thus does not do well in colder climates. Field immune to Scab, it
is one of the most sought-after new apple varieties for home gardeners
in the USA who have a season long enough to fully ripen it.
A patented release from the PRI breeding program, we have been licensed
to distribute it. |
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| Enterprise- We predict this apple will become the darling of
the tropic commercial apple industry. The tree sets a good crop of
medium to large, beautiful apples that have a blue "bloom" that polishes
off to reveal a hot-rod red apple that colors up well despite warm
nights. The firm, crisp flesh is wonderfully spicy and aromatic
and improves after a month in storage, keeping well up to six months.
Field immune to scab, and highly resistant to fire blight and cedar
apple rust.
Enterprise
is a patented release form the PRI breeding program that we have been
licensed to distribute. |
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| Arkansas Black- Grown in the South in the USA since 1870,
Arkansas Black is known in colder climates for being hard as a rock upon
picking and is only edible after a month in storage. We found that
when grown in a hot climate, right off the tree the flesh is wonderfully
crisp and juicy with a deep, rich, dark, "wine" taste and aroma
that equals the incredibly beautiful exterior. The apple is
well-named in that when ripe the skin develops a dark burgundy, almost
black color that is striking and colors up even with warm nights.
It keeps well and also makes wonderful pies and cider. A triploid
that is pollen sterile. |
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| Wealthy- From the American frigid north (Minnesota) in 1868
comes this apple well-adapted to tropical climates (believe it or not,
northern Minnesota does not receive many chilling hours- either it's
freezing winter or summer, never in-between). The tree is hardy,
healthy, and even on seedling rootstock comes into bearing in three or
four years. It ripens early and the white flesh has a wonderful
fine-grained, crisp, juicy taste that is full-flavored and would make
terrific cider. |
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| Rubinette- From Switzerland of all places comes this Cox
Orange Pippin cross that keeps all the rich, complex flavor of its
parent, but none of the difficulties of growing it in a warm climate.
It laughs at the heat and sets good crops consistently. When you
first bite into it the flavor is tart, but becomes sweeter as you chew
and after swallowing it leaves a wonderful aftertaste in your mouth that
begs for another bite. Out of our 100 varieties it won all taste
tests, and we are grafting it onto larger trees so we get more next
year. We are licensed to distribute this patented variety. |
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| Terry Winter- A high-quality apple well-adapted to tropic
conditions since 1868. It is on the smaller side unless thinned
heavily, which limited its commercial success; however it is an
excellent keeper even without refrigeration. It ripens late and
has a dense texture and pleasing sweet/tart taste. The tree will
overproduce and tend to be biannual if not thinned heavily. |
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| Rome Beauty- Discovered 1848, Rome Beauty was a favorite with
early pioneers because of its versatility and dependability. It
has great fresh-eating quality for about two weeks after picking, but
then degrades to a processing apple that still makes wonderful pies.
It will keep for months in refrigerated storage. It comes into
bearing young and sets good heavy crops each year. We've used it
for years to make excellent cider. It is widely grown in
Indonesia. |
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| Pollinator:
Wickson Crabapple- Developed in the 1930's for use in
cider (which it excels), Wickson is also an outstanding fresh eating
apple with a bold, crisp sweet/tart taste. The tree blossoms
profusely and sets heavy crops of small red and yellow apples.
Children like it because it is just their size and easy for them to bite
into. |
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How to order Benchgrafts, Scionwood, and Budwood International Shipping Information:
The cost to ship 50 trees via air courier (either Fed-Ex or UPS Air)
is about $85 US. It arrives at your port of entry in about 8 days,
well within the dormancy period. We need to ship to an airport
that has a customs and agricultural inspection station, which is usually
at major international airports.
Plant Import Restrictions:
Your country wants to make sure you are not importing insect or
disease pests that could harm your agricultural industry. Unless
you make arrangements for inspection, your shipment could be seized and
be put in quarantine, and could die before it is released to you.
We can provide a Phytosanitary Inspection Certificate,
which costs $65 US. You will need to find out from your Ministry
or Department of Agriculture if there are any restrictions on importing
apple (malus) plant material from the USA (there most likely is not).
We can also check from our end through our Department of Agriculture.
You will probably be required to apply for a Plant Import Permit,
which has a nominal fee. It helps to get a letter or certificate
of permission from the receiving inspection agency to display on the
exterior of the box, which makes things easier since your inspection
agency most likely is not accustomed to receiving apple plant material.
As you can see from these expenses and trouble that it is usually
more efficient to place a larger order, possibly split up between
several people if you can't use that many trees.
Shipping dates
We have to ship our trees and scionwood when the trees are dormant,
which is between January and the end of March. You need to be able
to plant them once they are received. Often your season is
opposite of ours, but the trees will adapt in a year or so and do just
fine. In order to comply with the import requirements you will
need to plan ahead. Remember, there's always next year.
If you are considering an international order, just
email us. We're happy
to answer any more questions you may have.
Kevin Hauser
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