Goldrush is easier to manage as far as pruning and years to harvest- it is as easy as they come. Both are summer fungus magnets- but that's only an aesthetic problem.

For more than 40 years I lived in the Pajaro Valley in coastal California, where the whole valley was planted in Newtown Pippins in the early 1920s. They were well suited to the climate and grew to be huge trees. Before the days of refrigerated and CA storage we had several apple dryers as well as several cider works. Times change and so does the demand for fruit. It is still a wonderful apple, just not much demand commercially. Al

Puffkit, you didn't give your area. Given your zone you are probably somewhere in the mid-south / mid-atlantic area. Both apples I would say are fairly easy growers. The main problem is any apple has lots of potential problems and needs multiple sprays to get good fruit. Based on your lack of interest in spraying maybe you should plant a fig or a hardy pomegranate instead.

Scott

Hey scott.....i'm in balt county.....phoenix....not far from loch raven. Not spraying wouldnt be from lack of interest but more a lack of time....just being a realist. And i already have hardy pom and fig (black marseilles from vasile). How does goldrush compare to newtown pippin in flavor? We like tart apples.....my kids devour granny smiths. Are they tough?

Goldrush gots more brix- sugar and acid. It can be fairly tart off the tree- tarter than Newtown- but sweetens up in storage. I like both apples but Goldrush, in spite of what Scott says, is more grower friendly in my opinion. It spurs up and produces fairly horizontal branches without producing much excess vegetative growth and fruits at least a year or even two years sooner on similar free-standing (M7 or 111) rootstock as Newtown. Pruning-wise it is the easiest tree I know. Course, Scott doesn't exactly grow trees.

I would say that people tend to be more impressed with the flavor of Goldrush.

Both are great apples. I grew up eating the wonderful Newtowns grown in calistoga's area (N CA). I just grafted both varieties this year.

You didn't say if you already have an apple tree (or maybe a nearby neighbor does). Both of these varieties need another tree for pollination so maybe you could find a nursery who would make a custom two-variety tree and you wouldn't have to pick between the two.

I agree Newtown is not as precocious or productive as Goldrush. I guess I have a lower standard for friendly; it doesn't get much fireblight, is easy to prune, nice shape, etc. One other negative for Newtown is they need some aging to bring on the best flavor. GoldRush is good at many points of age. So while I think both are pretty easy, GoldRush is super easy. Unless you have a big cedar nearby, it gets CAR badly.

Puffkit, where did you see Newtown in a nursery around here? Valley View Farms?

Scott

yes at valley view......don't guess i'll find goldrush around but i can order online. i might try behnke's or homestead too.
and yes we do have a large red cedar in our yard (not to mention they are all over the area) so we'll get some nice rusty apples! perhaps i should look more to resistant varieties?

found some good info for varieties very resistant to CAR (from univ of ark. extension) : baldwin, delicious, enterprise, gravenstein holly, jerseymac, liberty, mcintosh, milton, mollies delicious and redfree. will look up more info on flavor.....

You want flavor and CAR resistance? I suggest you consider Ashmeads Kernel, Golden Russet, old strain Winesap, King David, Williams Pride or even Granny Smith. Those are from Tom Burford's list of CAR resistant apples.

However, myclobutanyl in the spray mix that you are going to have to apply any way will allow you to grow CAR, mildew and scab susceptible varieties, no problem.

If the cedar is close you should definitely look into CAR resistance. CAR is often just cosmetic on apples, the leaves look ugly but the fruit is generally OK. But if the cedar is really close the apple will get totally nailed. Been there, done that. I cut down a beautiful 50' juniper in my front yard to keep my apples happy. Or, do the spray. I did the spray last year for the first time and had no CAR anywhere.

Scott