Apple 'Jonathan'

Synonyms: Khoroshavka zimnyaya, Oslamovskoye, Winter Red, Zhanatan

Apple Jonathan (Malus domestica ‘Jonathan’) – a winter cultivar of the domestic apple (Malus domestica). The cultivar is of American origin, a seedling of the «Esopus Spitzenburg» ('Esopus Spitzenburg').

It is a medium-sized tree with a broadly rounded crown of medium density. Scaffold branches depart from the trunk at a not-acute angle and, with age, droop under the weight of the fruits. It mainly bears fruit on ring shoots, spurs and fruiting spurs. Shoots are greenish-brown, thin or medium, heavily pubescent.

Leaves are small to medium-sized, oblong-ovate, slightly wrinkled, matte, with slightly raised, somewhat wavy and finely serrated margins, green with dense pubescence, with a bluish-silver bloom that is a characteristic feature of the Jonathan apple cultivar.

Fruits are medium or above medium in size, slightly flattened, round or conical, regular or slightly ribbed at the apex, with a smooth surface. Ground color is greenish-yellow; the covering color is an intense washed or striped dark red blush, occupying almost the entire surface of the fruit. Subcutaneous dots are faint; fruits may have a "net" russeting. The peduncle is short or medium, thin. The basin is of medium width, deep, with russeting. The calyx cavity is mostly deep, of medium width with almost vertical walls, slightly folded. The calyx is closed. The hypanthium tube is usually long, of medium width, funnel-shaped. Seed chambers are closed. Flesh is greenish-white, creamy at maturity, sweet-and-sour, aromatic, very juicy, firm, of excellent dessert taste. Yield is high (up to 490 kg from one tree); the cultivar is precocious. Harvest maturity occurs in mid-September; fruits can be stored in refrigeration until April. During storage fruits may develop bitter spotting and shrivel.

Pollinators: Aydared, Elstar, Gloster, Melrose.

Hardiness zone: 4 (-26°C). The cultivar is not sufficiently winter-hardy – perennial wood can suffer frost damage.

Location: prefers sunny, wind-protected sites. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry locations. Groundwater should be no closer than 2.5 m to the surface. Not demanding to soil, but prefers fertile, fresh soils. On insufficiently fertile soils and with moisture deficit productivity decreases and fruits become smaller.

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; spacing between seedlings should be calculated depending on the mature crown size (at least 5-6 m). The seedling is backfilled with a soil mix consisting of leaf soil, humus and sand in the ratio 1:3:2; a little peat and granular double superphosphate (250-300 g per planting hole) can also be added.

Diseases: the cultivar has relative resistance to scab; it can be affected by powdery mildew.

Pests: hawthorn tortrix, hawthorn ermine, brown fruit mite, upper-surface fruit moth, apple blossom weevil, oriental fruit moth, pear sawfly, pear tube borer, oak silkmoth, cambium borer, western bark beetle, green apple aphid, winter moth, Kazarka, ringed silkmoth, red-gall apple aphid, red apple mite, rosy apple aphid, leaf-mining moth, gypsy moth, common pear psylla, fruit moth, fruit and under-bark leafrollers, inchworm species (various Geometridae), rowan moth, currant leafroller, Turnip moth (Noctuidae), striped fruit moth, apple pit-shaped scale, psyllid, apple moth, apple leafroller and tortrix, codling moth (apple fruitworm), 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 frost and rodents is necessary. Whitewashing of apple trunks is applied in the 5th-6th year after planting the seedling. In spring-summer period provide nitrogen fertilization and moderate watering. Fertilize the apple after flowering, then after fruit 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, remove half of the upper parts of shoots; for thinning remove a shoot or branch entirely. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March-May. Apple trees planted the previous autumn must be pruned before sap flow begins. Summer pruning (pinching) can also be used.

Propagation: propagated by grafting onto rootstocks.

Uses: the cultivar is valued for the high flavor quality of its fruits, consistent and abundant yields, and long storage. Fruits are consumed fresh; transportability is good. Frequently used in breeding.