Apple 'Champion'

Apple Champion (Malus domestica ‘Champion) – an early-winter cultivar of the common apple (Malus domestica). The cultivar was bred at the Czech Experimental Station in Holovousy in 1970 from a cross Golden Delicious x Renet Orange of Cox. A popular commercial cultivar.

It is a dwarf tree with an oval crown of medium density. Growth rate is high before the onset of fruiting, then slows down. Main branches are moderately developed, forming an angle of 50 — 70 degrees from the trunk. Buds are highly excitable, the ability to form shoots is moderate. Fruiting is of a mixed type — spurs, fruiting one-year shoots, short spurs.

Blooms abundantly, uniformly, at medium time. Pollen has medium or above-average viability (from 32 to 60%). Under open pollination, 18 to 31% of flowers set fruit. The cultivar is partially self-fertile; it is recommended to plant pollinator cultivars nearby.

Fruits are large, weighing 160-200 g, uniform in size, rounded-oval, with an orange-red diffuse blush over almost the entire surface of the fruit; sometimes yellow-gray corky lenticels are noticeable. Skin thin, very strong, elastic, dry. Flesh pale cream, medium-firm, aromatic, very juicy, sweet-tart; tasting score 4.7 points. Harvest maturity occurs in the second half of September, eating maturity in October. In storage they can be kept up to 2 months, in a refrigerator – up to 5 months. Begins to bear at 3 years, bearing is stable and abundant, yield up to 500 centners per hectare.

Pollinators: Alkmene, James Grieve, Lobo, Priam, Teremok, Aydared, James Grieve, Pilot.

Hardiness zone: 4 (−26°C).

Site: prefers sunny, sheltered-from-wind locations. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry spots. Groundwater should lie no closer than 2.5 m from the surface. Not demanding to soil, but prefers fertile, fresh soils.

Planting: It is preferable to plant the seedling in spring before bud break or in autumn 1-15 months before frosts. The planting hole should be at least 80x80x100 cm; the distance between seedlings should be calculated depending on the crown size at maturity (not less than 5-6 m). The seedling is backfilled with a soil mix consisting of leaf mold, humus and sand in the ratio 1:3:2; a little peat and granulated double superphosphate (250-300 g per planting hole) can also be added.

Diseases: the cultivar has relative resistance to powdery mildew, and high resistance to scab (according to other sources low). Sensitive to bitter pit.

Pests: hawthorn tortrix moth, hawthorn moth, brown fruit mite, upper-surface fruit moth, apple blossom weevil, oriental fruit moth, pear sawfly, pear shoot borer, oak-leaf silkworm moth, sapwood borer, western bark beetle, green apple aphid, winter moth, [kazaraka], ringed silkworm moth, red-galled apple aphid, red apple mite, blood aphid, leaf-mining moth, gypsy moth, common pear psylla, fruit moth, fruit and subcortical leafroller, [padenitsa obdíralo], rowan moth, currant leafroller, blue-headed cutworm, striped fruit moth, apple blotch scale, leafhopper, apple moth, apple moth and leafroller, apple codling moth, apple clearwing, apple-plantain aphid, apple sawfly.

Care: In the second year after planting it is necessary to apply a complete mineral fertilizer (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium). In winter protection from freezing and rodents is necessary. Whitewashing of apple trees is applied in the 5th-6th year after planting the seedling. In spring and summer a supply of nitrogen fertilizer and moderate watering is required. Feed the apple after flowering, then after fruitlet drop and the last time in late August - early September.

Pruning: carried out in two ways: for thinning and for shortening. For shortening, remove half of the upper parts of shoots, and for thinning – remove the shoot or branch entirely. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March-May. Apples planted the previous autumn should be pruned before sap flow begins. Summer pruning – pinching – can also be used.

Propagation: propagated by grafting onto rootstocks.

Use: The cultivar is valued for its high fruit taste qualities, consistent and abundant yields, and long storage. Fruits are consumed fresh; transportability is medium.