Apple varieties that don't get cedar apple rust
"We also have problems with [cedar apple rust]. Getting resistant apples makes a
tremendous difference. Saving susceptible varieties can be done, but
requires extra time and funds.... Please share the whole list of which apples in your orchard are
susceptible and which are not. We have several lists and they conflict
somewhat, due to the exact circumstances of each site." --- jacurry
The list below includes
varieties that books report have at least some resistance to cedar apple
rust, and I've added notations to the varieties I've tried:
- Arkansas Black
- Baldwin
- Belle de Boskoop
- Black Limbertwig
- Bramley Seedling
- Duchess (aka Duchess of Oldenburg)
- Empire (slight damage)
- Enterprise (no damage)
- Fireside
- Florina
- Freedom
- Grimes Golden (serious damage)
- Hardy Cumberland
- Hudson's Golden Gem
- Keepsake
- Kidd's Orange Red (moderate damage)
- King David (no damage, but currently small)
- Liberty (slight damage)
- Lodi
- Mammoth Black Twig (slight damage)
- McIntosh
- Myers Royal Limbertwig
- Novamac
- Prima
- Priscilla
- Pristine (moderate damage)
- Ralls Genet
- Red Delicious (no damage, but currently small)
- Redfree
- Red Limbertwig
- Rusty Coat
- Summer Rambo (moderate damage)
- Sundance
- Sweet Sixteen (serious damage)
- Virginia Beauty (slight damage)
- William's Pride (slight damage)
- Winesap (no damage, but currently small)
- Yates
- Yellow Transparent (moderate damage)
Plain text varieties are those I don't have enough experience with yet to report on, bold varieties are those I highly recommend in cedar-apple-rust areas, italicized varieties are ones I might recommend, and struck-through varieties don't seem able to handle the rust in our region.
I'd love to hear from
other readers with your list of apple varieties that do and don't show
cedar-apple-rust damage. Share your information in the comments
section and I'll edit this post to add to the list!
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
My apple trees definitely have exposure; there are a lot of cedars nearby. One tree has had signs of infection most years. Over about three seasons, my results are:
Resistant / no symptoms: Stayman, King David, Black Limbertwig, Striped June (also known as Margaret), Liberty, Enterprise
Susceptible: Goldrush (severe damage most years)
Nayan --- In my experience, cedar apple rust doesn't usually impact apple fruits. The fungus just weakens the trees so they don't grow well and don't have many fruits, but the fruits that do exist are just as good as on uninfected trees.
I'm not sure if you're used to eating non-grocery-store fruits (and if so, feel free to ignore this paragraph), but you really shouldn't expect beautiful, unsullied fruit from an unsprayed tree. There are all kinds of bugs and diseases that make apples look gnarled and blemished, and if you don't want to spray chemicals (which we don't), you need to figure out which is which and delve deeper into non-chemical control. In many cases, it's simpler just to cut out the bad spots!
Of course, fruit flavor will be impacted by many other factors as well. Thinning the fruits and pruning/training the tree to allow lots of light inside is imperative if you want big, sweet fruit. And the trees need full (or nearly) full sun to expedite ripening. Hope that helps you begin brainstorming your tree's problem.
These varieties have been surrounded by hundreds of cedars for three years with zero sign of CAR:
Paducah, Caney Fork Limbertwig, Kentucky Limbertwig, Black Limbertwig, Keener Seedling.
Maryland zone 7B
Steve
You can add Paula Red to the resistant list. Mild damage, but we get abundant harvests yearly with only minor lesions here and there.
We have abundant rust problems- killed our Golden Russet, doing a number on our Wealth apple- so we're a pretty good lab for resistance.