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Pollination – Apple

All varieties of apple trees require some cross-pollination for fruit set. Even though some varieties are listed as self-fruitful, they will set fruit more heavily and more regularly if they are cross-pollinated. Flowering crabapples (see variety list below) have become popular pollen donors because they generally have longer bloom times than apples and are easily cared for.

Good Crabapple Pollinizers:
  • Crimson Gold – Blooms midseason to late
  • Indian Summer – Blooms with King bloom of Reds
  • Manchurian  –  Blooms early to midseason (linked to certain postharvest rots)
  • Mt. Blanc™ (x6114 cv.) – Blooms late
  • Mt. Evereste™ (permute cv.) – Blooms early to midseason (scab resistant)
  • Snodrift – Blooms midseason to late
  • Whitney Crabapple
  • Wickson Crabapple
There are some apple varieties that cannot be used as pollinizers:
  • Baldwin
  • Gravenstein
  • Jonagold
  • King
  • Mutsu
  • Winesap
Apple Bloom Chart

Click to enlarge image

Pollen Compatibility Chart

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W-D_Apple-bloom-chart

Resources

 

Washington State University