Bramley Cooking apples

Sunnygal starts with ...
Is there anywhere I can get a Bramley Cooking apple tree and will it grow in Queensland?

Thanks

Diana says...
I have the kuffle creek book that says bramley is one of the good ones (but be aware it is triploid). I got lots of my apples from Woodbridge http://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/wft/. They are going well and fruit (not just the tropical ones).

Applenut says 'Bramley England, 1800 Bramley is the national cooking apple of England and many will find it odd for it to be on this list, but it has proven to be very reliable in a tropic climate. It is very vigorous (the original 200-year-old tree is still growing and bearing apples in Nottingham) and annual bearing. It is quite tart until completely ripe and makes an applesauce that will about blow your head off with an intense flavor. For an apple from such a cool climate it sure is not bothered by the heat any, tolerating 45 C. with no problems.'

Re warm climate apples: See post from applenut in the 'pinkabelle apple' thread, e.g.

Applenut says...
Just stumbled upon your forum, and great questions here; I wanted to clear up some questions about winter chill.

I grow about 100 varieties of apples in Inland Southern California in the USA where we have very hot summers and warm winters, averaging about 200 hours of chill; citrus is the main crop in the area, but we also grow avocados, bananas, and other sub-tropicals. My nursery specializes in growing apple trees in hot climates and the tropics, and we ship to the African tropic lowlands. We have re-imported apple varieties from the Grove Research Station in Tasmania that originated in the USA in the nineteenth century, but are now extict from cultivation here.

Chilling hours for apples will affect it's behavior and timing, but any apple will fruit here. Blossoming will be delayed or extended, but the trees do bear a full load of fruit by the end of the season which extends months past the normal apple season in cold climates. We start out harvesting Anna and Dorsett Golden in June and wrap up with Lady Williams in February, after Anna is already blossoming again. We have grown many apples considered "high chill" such as Northern Spy, Winesap, Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Arkansas Black, and Gravenstein.

Do not let someone tell you that apples will not grow in your area until you actually try it. We heard that for years here in Southern California until somebody who didn't know better actually planted them, and got a ton of apples. Now the quality may not be as good on some varieties, but we've found plenty that are as good or better than when grown in a cold climate.

Having a pollinator can affect the fruit quality; Anna is tall and skinny unless pollinated with Dorsett Golden, and the seeds will just be little specks. But when pollinated they get nice and fat, as does Dorsett. However, they blossom months before our Pink Lady does and will not pollinate it.

You can see a list of 20 of our favorite apples in a hot climate at http://www.kuffelcreek.com/favorites.htm

Diana says...
Hi Brain,

Thanks.
You have to net them like tomatoes. We have no possums here.

granny smith- not that productive
anna- very productive
pink lady- moderately productive
rome beauty- very productive
golden dorsett- very productive
huonville crab- very productive

Also more recently planted, still small:
sundowner
bonza
gravenstein
king david
dr hogg

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

Brain says...
I would also agree that pink lady isnt all that great in brisbane climate. Anna flowers a lot but i did not quite like the taste. I think you will find sundowner does very well.

I also have fuji, red delic and gala, all doing great.

I am tempted to branch out and get some pears and even a sloe.

What type of netting have you got and where from?

Slicko says...
Hi Diana,
The bags in your pic don't appear to be the Greenharvest bags that I have been using, so I am wondering about their origin. They appear to be some sort of open woven net.
I put in two apples a month or so but I had no idea that some of the more temperate varieties could be grown around here. Do you know if high chill varieties can be grafted onto low chill trees and still fruit successfully in our climate?

Brain says...
Thanks diana for your advice, would defn check out the bags.

You should be able to graft apples, the only catch is, you will likely to have a rootstock and an intermediate (existing scion) and the new scion. So the new combination might generate interesting results. Its worth a try for sure.

Or wait for a shoot below the graft.

As for fruiting, it can be hit and miss. But it would appear most apples can fruit in the subtropics, can being the key word here.

Slicko says...
Thanks for that info Jakfruit. Up here my limited experience is with citrus and low chill stone fruit together with some of the more standard tropical trees like longan and star apple. The pomme fruit have never entered my mind until I started to read some of the forum posts as I had always assumed that they were high chill and only an option around Stanthorpe, so it opens up a whole new world for me.
I followed your advice Diana and read Applenut's posts and took in his web site. It is quite amazing what he has growing in what I suspect a similar climate to ours and where he is sending his apples to. Also followed your link to the greenharvest net bags. I thought that your bags may have been made from some sort of fabric like mosquito net, but I know differently now.
Thanks everyone for your thought provoking posts.

Janet harlow says...
I live in Kinglake West Vic. I’m from the UK originally and miss the Bramley Apples. I was wondering if it is possible to buy a tree to plant in our garden.
Thanking you
Janet

Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi Janet
Definitely you can successfully plant Bramleys seedling cooking apple in kinglake Victoria. Some of the nurseries that stock them are; woodbridge nursery in Tasmania, Heritage fruit trees in Ballarat Victoria and Yalca nursery also in Victoria. They will start taking orders though by April 2018 next year.