Among the wide variety of existing apple cultivars, the late-winter apple cultivar Red Chief stands out with its excellent taste characteristics and attractive appearance - a representative of the American selection, which is the result of crossing Jonathan and Wagner varieties.
Apple Tree Red Chief: description
Apple trees of the Red Chief variety are medium-sized, have an oval or reverse pyramidal crown, which, by the beginning of fruiting, due to branches with a large number of annuli of different ages, changes shape to a round one. Shoots of a slightly curved or straight shape, painted in red-brown color, strongly pubescent. The leaves are medium in size, oval-oblong, with a rounded base and a slightly elongated top.
Being a clone of the Delicious variety, Red Chief differs from it in petioles, which are colored red in the lower part, spreading along the veins to the middle of the leaves. Apple tree Red Chief iswith an early-growing variety and the first harvest pleases after 2 years from the moment of planting in a permanent place of growth.
Fruit characteristics
Red Chief - apples that are attractive both in appearance and in taste. Pleasant aroma, sweetness of taste, estimated on a tasting scale of 4.8 points, beautiful presentation, keeping quality almost until spring - the variety has optimally incorporated exactly 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 of 5 hilly bulges on the top of the fruit. The skin is rich red in color, covered with a waxy translucent coating. Red Chief apples, the description of which is well known to many consumers, have light creamy flesh, firm and medium in juiciness.
Commodity attractiveness of fruits and a high rate of transportability make it possible to use the variety as a commercial variety among other varieties of the Delicious group to which it belongs. Removable maturity comes relatively late: at the end of October, consumer - in December. Red Chief - apples with a somewhat powdery pulp structure. This circumstance allows the use of fruits as a nutritious ingredient for salads and fruit snacks.
Advantages and disadvantages of Red Chief
Red Chief are apples that have a high degree of popularity in America, where they are grown on the territory of private estates and on an industrial scale. Undeniable advantagesof 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);
- medium hardiness.
Among the shortcomings, we can identify weak resistance to diseases such as scab, rot, vitreous fruit pulp, bitter spot. Quality care and preventive measures will minimize the risk of contracting these diseases.
Features of cultivation
Trees are unpretentious in cultivation and can take root in almost any climatic conditions on any soil. Landing on a permanent place of growth is recommended to be carried out in a place well lit and protected from drafts. Thanks to their compactness, trees can be planted in rows, close to each other.
Care for this variety consists in constant watering, timely top dressing, crown pruning, loosening of tree trunks, their mulching in preparation for winter. The variety is self-fertile, so it needs pollinators. The most suitable varieties in this quality are Elstar, Golden Delicious, Gloucester, which are recommended to be planted nearby with the Red Chief variety. Apples of the consumer-favorite variety on the tree look no less appetizing and attractive than in the photographs.
