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The Macintosh apple variety is known throughout the world, but its history began in Canada. It is very interesting that about any variety of apples it can be said that amateurs or professional breeders brought it out, but no one brought out the Macintosh, it was simply found in 1796 in the middle of an abandoned garden of a newly purchased farm. The new owner, having discovered the seedlings of apple trees, transplanted them, but only one tree survived, which is considered the progenitor of the variety bearing the name of the happy buyer of the farm. By the way, no one specifically brought out columnar apple trees either. The branch that mutated so successfully was found on an old Macintosh tree in Canada.
Variety description
We have “Mac” is considered an autumn variety. Its fruits ripen in the second half of September. It is zoned for the North Caucasus and the Lower Volga region, known under the names “Autumn Khoroshevka”, “Autumn Excellent” and “Autumn Red-sided”.
Trees of medium height with a wide spreading crown, skeletal branches diverge widely to the sides, so that the crown is not too dense. Light green with yellow leaves in the descriptions are called medium pubescent, they are medium in size, wide, slightly elongated with a flat surface.
Fruits grow up to 150 or 180 grams. They are round, slightly flattened (descriptions in the specialized literature call them slightly conical). The main whitish-yellow color with ripening is covered with a dark purple blush, which spreads over the apple in uneven blurry spots. The skin is thin, but strong enough, elastic, it is covered with a bluish wax coating, easily separated from the pulp, yellow dots shine through it. Juicy fine-grained pulp is white, but often red streaks appear through it. The whole world knows the sweet taste of these apples with a noticeable sourness, their candy spice and delicate aroma.
Mackintosh apple trees begin to bear fruit at the age of 6 or 7, and at first it is desirable to regulate the number of fruits so as not to deplete young trees. Well, of course, where should they rush, they have a lot of time – the progenitor of the variety grew and gave fruits for more than 100 years. Columnar apple trees begin to bear fruit earlier. The yield is average, but there is a known case when 390 kg of apples were harvested from one apple tree. It is very important for the fruiting of the Macintosh that apple trees of other varieties grow nearby, and their flowering time should coincide.
All descriptions note the main advantage of the variety – the high taste of fruits, their ability to be stored for a long time and easily endure transportation. A disadvantage is the weak frost resistance and susceptibility of leaves and fruits to such a common disease as scab.
It should be noted that Macintosh itself is rarely found in our country, its clone, Macintosh Red, is much more often grown. It is so named because the integumentary purple-red color extends throughout the apple.
Video “McIntosh apples and other classic varieties”
Thanks to this video, you have the opportunity to get acquainted with the traditional varieties of apples grown in New England.
Storage and transportation
Macintosh apples are known far beyond their growth, all thanks to the excellent keeping quality of the fruit. The main time for harvesting apples of this variety is the second half of September, but they ripen very unevenly. In summer cottages and in personal gardens, fruits begin to be picked from August – the month, and finish, weather permitting, from the beginning of October. It is important to pick the fruits from the tree on time, because thin and weak stalks may not wait for this moment, then ripe apples will hit the ground and will no longer be suitable for storage. In large orchards where apples are grown commercially, harvest time is always mid-September.
Without creating special conditions, apples can be stored until December, and their consumer ripeness occurs 2 weeks after harvest. This means that you can pick apples, put them in the apartment and enjoy them almost until the new year. But if you want to save them until spring, you need to create conditions under which the ripening process of plucked fruits will slow down, that is, you need to store apples at a low temperature.
The optimal storage conditions are considered to be a room in which a constant temperature of +2 or +3 degrees is maintained, and the humidity does not fall below 60%, it is best to keep it at 75–80 percent.
Mackintosh apples (from an ordinary or columnar apple tree) are stacked in wooden or plywood boxes with layers of stalks up, well sprinkled with sand or sawdust so that the fruits are not visible. You can store them without sand, but then you need to wrap each apple in a piece of paper.
They are transported for short distances in boxes without sawdust, but this is dangerous – when moving, apples can be damaged, and therefore rot. It is best to deliver fruits to the place of consumption, processing or sale in boxes filled with sawdust. By the way, sawdust does not need to be taken from coniferous wood, their strong smell will interrupt the delicate aroma of apples.
Use in cooking
Apples of this variety have received the greatest recognition and distribution in North America – they are mandatory for the menu of children’s institutions. Of course, this is due to their amazing usefulness – 10% sugars, 10% pectins, 196 mg per 100 g of weight of P-active substances that remove toxins and carcinogens from the body, a high content of potassium, calcium, iron, ascorbic acid.
Yes, these apples are not only tasty, but also amazingly healthy. Juices, jams, jellies, jams, marmalades, wine and sauces are prepared from them. Confectionery products using apples of this variety are loved by adults and children. At home, all mothers and grandmothers make pancakes or charlotte with apples. They are dried, baked with and without filling, caramelized apples and chocolate slices are made.
Peculiarities of growing
Mackintosh apple trees, both traditional and columnar, are planted on the site in spring before bud break or in autumn so that they have time to take root before frost. They prefer well-drained light but nutritious soils. Ordinary apple trees are planted at a distance of at least 3 m from each other, and columnar – after 30-40 centimeters.
Before planting, the soil is fertilized throughout the entire area, or humus and peat are placed in each hole, mixing with the excavated soil. The seedlings are lowered into the pits so that the roots are straightened and do not crumple under the weight of the earth being filled up. The root neck should be 3 or 4 centimeters above ground level. Seedlings are usually tied to pegs for stability, watered with 3-4 buckets of water. After repeated watering (most often after a week), the ground near the trunk is mulched.
The description of apple tree care usually comes down to watering, top dressing, pruning, pest and disease control. So, trees are watered as needed, preparing them for wintering, so much water is poured into the trunk circle so that the earth gets wet to a depth of a meter. Top dressing must be done every two years. In the spring, nitrogen (young trees) and phosphorus are introduced, then, during the formation of ovaries, potassium and phosphorus. Trees respond well to compost and humus, you can apply highly diluted (ten times) slurry or bird droppings (fifteen times diluted). Any top dressing is stopped in the middle of summer.
Pruning is done annually, starting from the second year of the tree’s life, the vertical shoot is shortened to stimulate the formation of lateral ones. Mandatory annual sanitary pruning – cleaning of dry, damaged branches.
Unfortunately, “Mac” shows very little resistance to scab. It is enough to happen a rainy summer, daily temperature changes or overfeed the trees with nitrogen – characteristic spots will appear on young leaves, shoots, ovaries, first light, and then – everyone knows what they will turn into. To reduce the likelihood of such a scenario, you should not leave leaves and fallen fruits under the trees, you should better dig up the ground. In the spring, it is advised to treat trees with Bordeaux liquid for preventive purposes. If you need to take urgent measures, then special preparations are used: “Skor”, “Hom”, “Polyhom”. It is important to read the instructions and pay attention to the terms when you can use each drug.
Apple trees can be attacked by pests – aphids, codling moth, sawfly, apple sucker. Usually gardeners treat trees with soapy water, tobacco infusion, if this does not help, they resort to nitrofen, karbofos.
Trees should be prepared for winter. The earth in the trunk circles is mulched with humus, compost, peat, or at least just earth. Trunks and skeletal branches are covered with chalk whitewash with lime.
Video “Tips for Growing Apples”
Use the advice of an experienced gardener on growing healthy and beautiful apples, on caring for an apple tree, including scab treatment and tree nutrition.
