Apple 'Early Geneva'

Early Geneva apple (Malus domestica “Early Geneva”) – a cultivar of the domesticated apple. An American-bred cultivar, obtained in 1973 from a cross of the Quinti and Julired varieties at the Geneva experimental station. The earliest apple variety.

It is a small tree 2.5–3.5 m tall with a dense, broadly pyramidal, flat-rounded or spreading crown with drooping branches. In the first years it grows quickly. Fruit-bearing type – mixed, but mainly on simple and compound spurs, and in southern orchards it can bear fruit on last year’s shoots. The cultivar is very precocious and may begin fruiting 1–2 years after planting.

Leaves are a deep dark green, densely pubescent underneath, oblong or oblong-ovate, with a pointed or rounded base and a distinct tip. Sometimes slightly twisted clockwise, with coarse wavy doubly serrated margins.

Flowers are medium-sized, white, saucer-shaped. Blooms at the same time as McIntosh. The cultivar is self-sterile.

Pollinators: Golden Delicious, Ambassi, Idared, Discovery, Celeste, Delicates, Elstar, Gloster, James Grieve.

Fruits are medium to large, rounded-conical or flat-round in shape, greenish-yellow with a pink blush, weighing 150–170 g. They ripen unevenly from the first half to the end of July. Very good sweet-tart flavor with crisp, fine-grained juicy flesh. The flesh is white with a greenish tint, firm, juicy, aromatic, sweet-tart with spicy, wine-sweet notes. In the refrigerator they keep up to 3 weeks. Crops regularly, yielding up to 50 kg from one tree.

Hardiness zone: 5B (-29°C).

Location: prefers sunny, wind-sheltered sites. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry sites. Groundwater should be no closer than 2.5 m to 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 1–1.5 months before frosts. The hole should be at least 80x80x100 cm; spacing between seedlings should be calculated depending on the mature crown size (at least 5–6 m). The seedling is filled with a soil mixture consisting of leaf soil, compost and sand in a ratio of 1:3:2; a little peat and granular double superphosphate (250–300 g per planting hole) can also be added.

Diseases and pests: susceptible to fire blight.

Care: in the second year after planting it is necessary to apply a complete mineral fertilizer (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium). In winter, protection from frost damage and rodents is required. Whitewashing of apple trunks is applied in the 5th–6th year after planting the seedling. In the spring-summer period, provide nitrogen fertilization and moderate watering. Feed the apple tree after flowering, then after fruitlet drop, and the last feeding at the end of August – beginning of September.

Pruning is carried out in two ways: thinning and shortening. For shortening, half of the upper parts of shoots are removed, while thinning involves removing the whole shoot or branch. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March–May. Apple trees planted the previous autumn should be pruned before the sap starts to flow. Summer pruning – pinching – can also be applied.

Propagation: propagated by grafting.

Uses: the fruits are consumed fresh, dried, preserved, and used for making compotes, jams, preserves, wine and cider.