Among the wide variety of existing apple varieties with excellent taste characteristics and attractive appearance, the late winter variety of apples Red Chief is the representative of the American selection, which is the result of the crossing of the varieties Jonathan and Wagner.
Apple tree Red Chief: description
Red Chiff apple trees are medium-sized; they have an oval or inverted pyramidal crown, which, by the beginning of fruiting, changes its shape to round due to branches with a large number of rings of different ages. Shoots of slightly curved or straight shape, painted in red-brown, heavily pubescent. The leaves are medium in size, oval-oblong, with a rounded base and a slightly elongated tip.
Being a clone of the Delicious variety, Red Chief differs from it in petioles, which are colored red in the lower part, which extends along the veins to the middle of the leaves.
Apple-tree Red Chief is a quick-growing variety and the first harvest pleases after 2 years from the moment of planting at a constant place of growth.
Fruit characterization
Red Chief - apples that are attractive both externally and in taste. Pleasant aroma, sweetness of taste, rated on a tasting scale of 4.8 points, beautiful presentation, keeping quality almost until spring - the variety optimally absorbed precisely those qualities that are most appreciated by the consumer.
The fruits are truncated-conical, somewhat elongated, quite large: the weight of one varies from 200 to 400 grams. A distinctive feature of the variety is the presence on the top of the fruit of 5 hill-shaped bulges. The skin is saturated red in color, covered with a translucent waxy coating. Red Chief apples, the description of which is well known to many consumers, have a light cream flesh, dense and medium in juiciness.
The marketability of fruits and the high rate of transportability allow the variety to be used as a commercial variety among other varieties of the Delicious group to which it belongs. Removable maturity comes relatively late: in late October, consumer - in December. Red Chief - apples with a somewhat mealy structure of pulp. This fact allows the use of fruits as a nutritional ingredient for salads and fruit snacks.
Advantages and disadvantages of Red Chief
Red Chief - apples with a high degree of popularity in America, where they are grown on private property and on an industrial scale. The undeniable advantages of this variety are:
- its wide distribution;
- excellent commercial and consumer qualities of fruits;
- resistance to mechanical damage;
- long shelf life of fruits (without the use of special equipment - until mid-February);
- average winter hardiness.
Among the shortcomings can be identified weak resistance to diseases such as scab, rot, vitreous pulp of the fetus, bitter spotting. Quality care and preventive measures will minimize the risk of contracting these diseases.
Growing Features
Trees are unpretentious in cultivation and can take root practically in any climatic conditions on any soils. Landing at a permanent place of growth is recommended to be done in a well-lit and protected from drafts place. Due to its compactness, trees can be planted in rows, close to each other.
Care for this variety consists of constant watering, timely top dressing, pruning of the crown, loosening of trunks, and mulching them in preparation for winter. The variety is self-infertile, therefore, needs pollinators. Most suitable in this quality are the varieties Elstar, Golden Delishes, Gloucester, which are recommended to be planted nearby with Red Chief. Apples of a variety that a consumer loves on a tree look no less appetizing and attractive than in the photographs.