English Apples - Apple Breeding
2010 pollinations
Grower: 'Suttonelms' (England). New information is posted at the TOP of the page.
UPDATE, 28 Aug 2013
Pictures 1-3: Laxton x Almata grafts; 4-6: D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink grafts. Click on the image below for the detail. The leaf colour of the mature foliage is more green and less bright than the juvenile leaves but the differences are still visible. 1 and 3 have pronounced red pigmentation. All seedlings appear very healthy.
2010 CROSSES
(NOW GRAFTED)
UPDATE, 8 Jul 2013
2010 crosses: Laxton's Fortune x Almata: all nine grafts (3 of each seedling) are growing well. The greenest seedling and the darkest seedling appear to be the most vigorous.
The D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink grafts seem to be fine, and less prone to mildew than the original seedlings. (It will be remembered that the majority of the original seedlings had to be discarded because of powdery mildew and other problems.)
The Whitwick Pippin x George's Red is perhaps the most vigorous of the lot; about a metre high. This is unlikely to have a spectacular flavour, but perhaps the storage properties will be improved over the original 'George's Red', and a back-cross may be possible at a later stage. There is no trace of red pigmentation in the leaves.
More pictures of all of these will be posted soon.
UPDATE, 10 May 2013
2010 crosses: Laxton's Fortune x Almata: grafted in Feb and now growing well, grafted onto MM106.
UPDATE, 19 Feb 2013
2010 crosses: Grafting of seedlings: (see picture 5 Apr 2012)
Laxton's Fortune x Almata
1. Reddish leaved seedling, vigorous: pale pink scion wood. 3 trees grafted.
2. Less vigorous seedling with less leaf pigmentation: scion wood uncoloured. 3 trees grafted.
3. Least vigorous seedling with no leaf pigmentation: scion wood deep crimson. 3 trees grafted.
These seedlings look interesting; a real mix-up of Laxton and Almata redfleshed genes. The picture shows the scions of the three seedlings; from left to right: numbers 3,2,1; note the coloured wood.
D'arcy Spice x Mott's Pink
1: green leaved seedling, most vigorous, uncoloured scion wood: 2 trees grafted.
2: green leaved seedling, less vigorous, uncoloured scion wood: 2 trees grafted.
3: green leaved seedling, least vigorous, uncoloured scion wood: 2 trees grafted.
These seedlings have no trace of pigmentation.
Whitwick Pippin x George's Red
1. One seedling only, extremely vigorous, green leaved. 2 trees grafted.
No obvious pigmentation, but may have unusual properties: Whitwick Pippin is extremely late fruiting and mainly red skinned; George's Red is redfleshed.
24 Mar 13 - grafting completed
UPDATE, 25 Aug 2012
2010 crosses:
Ribston (triploid) x Mott's Pink - had been attacked by woolly aphis, no growth for 2 months, puny specimen - discarded.
Two more D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink had scabby green leaves covered in brown patches; weak growth - discarded.
So from 2010 there are seven remaining healthy seedlings: three Laxton x Almata (leaf colours green, red tinted green and slightly stronger red-green), three D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink (green leaved) and one Whitwick Pippin x George's red (green leaved). These will be grafted and trialled starting next year.
UPDATE, 6 Jun 2012
2010 crosses: D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink: Two of the six seedlings are very susceptible to mites (below). This is after daily spraying with an insecticide for a fortnight. The insects are gone but the leaves have not recovered. These have been discarded.
The other Darcy Spice x Mott's Pink seem OK; all are green leaved (below).
The three Laxton x Almata are growing well and should be graftable next year (below). The older leaves are greener than when they first appeared but the red pigmentation can be seen in two of them (click for detail).
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Whitwick Pippin x George's Red seems vigorous, and green leaved. Ribston (triploid) x Mott's Pink is growing very slowly but apart from that seems healthy enough.
UPDATE, 5 Apr 2012
2010 crosses: LAXTON x ALMATA second year; first leaves on the three seedlings shown below. These should produce interesting fruit. Laxton's Fortune is one of the best flavoured English apples, and Almata is one of the most vividly coloured redfleshed varieties.
Green leaves with pink margins; darker, and much darker....
UPDATE, 30 May 2011
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Showing leaf differences in two Laxton x Almata seedlings, the seeds taken from the same apple. Click on the pictures for the detail.
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Similar pictures for Whitwick Pippin x George's Red and a Darcy Spice x Mott's Pink. To some degree they all show hints of red-fleshed parentage.
D'Arcy Spice x Mott's Pink, all looking healthy.
Laxton x Almata (first three plants) and Ribston x Mott's Pink (on right), 30 May. The individual differences between the plants are becoming more apparent.
On re-potting, the red-tinted seedlings were found to have bright pink tips to the roots. The roots of the others were perfectly white. Click on the small picture to see this.
UPDATE, 1 May 2011
Mott's Pink crosses (D'Arcy Spice x MP and Ribston x MP).
The Ribston seedling (Ribston is triploid) is smaller and weaker than the others though this cannot be seen from the picture.
UPDATE, March 2011
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Laxton x Almata; and Ribston x Mott's Pink.
ND / Diversity website
