Jonagold

Jonagold is a popular American apple variety with an excellent rich aromatic flavor which appeals to European tastes - and is widely-grown in Europe.

Jonagold stores well, a quality it inherits from one of its parents, Golden Delicious. However it gets its excellent flavour from its other parent, the very well-respected old New York apple variety Jonathan. It has the combination of good sweetness and good sharpness that often denotes a high quality apple.

Jonagold is a very versatile apple. As well as being excellent for eating fresh, it is a popular for all kinds of culinary uses, and good for juice and cider. The apples can be picked over several weeks - pick earlier if you want to store them.

Red Jonaprince® is a sport of Jonagold with a much deeper red colouring but the same flavour.

Growing and Training

The main horticultural issue is that Jonagold is a triploid apple variety and therefore needs two separate pollination partners nearby (or one self-fertile one). If you have apple trees in neighbouring gardens, they may be suitable. Golden Delicious is a reliable pollinator of many apple varieties but Jonagold is an exception and cannot be pollinated by Golden Delicious.

Like most triploid apple varieties, Jonagold produces a fairly large tree and the apples are also fairly large. Cropping is generally good and there is no need to thin the fruit.

Jonagold is susceptible to a number of apple diseases, but its vigorous triploid nature seems to help it keep going.

Jonagold likes a warmer climate but can be grown across quite a wide climate range - including the cooler climates of northern Europe where it is grown commercially on a small scale.

History

Jonagold is a cross between two classic American apple varieties, Golden Delicious and Jonathan. Developed by the famous Geneva research station in New York State in 1943.

As with many commercial apple varieties, a number of "sports" or clones have been discovered over the years. These are natural bud mutations arising in the orchard, which have been spotted by a keen-eyed orchard owner and then propagated because of their commercial value. Red Jonaprince® is one of the best known, and as with most sports the main difference is the stronger red colouration and tendency to produce larger fruits, which are considered desirable by consumers. Genetically the sports are identical to the original variety (and like Jonagold they are all triploid).

Jonagold characteristics

• Gardening skillAverage
• Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
• Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
• Pollinating othersPoor
• Pick seasonLate
• Picking periodmid-October
• Keeping1-2 months
• Food usesEating freshCulinaryJuiceHard cider
• Country of originUnited States
• Period of origin1900 - 1949
• Fruit colourOrange flush

You might also like these varieties

• 
  Gala
  Gala is popular supermarket apple - but better when home-grown, with a sweet pleasant flavour.
• 
  Honeycrisp
  Honeycrisp is an American cold-hardy disease-resistant apple - it shows just how good modern apples have become.

More about apple trees

Apples are very versatile, and all varieties can be eaten or used in the kitchen. However varieties specifically grown as eating apples tend to have the best flavours for eating raw.

The main thing to decide when choosing an eating apple is when you intend to eat the apples. Early season apples are typically ready in August, and generally don't keep very long. Mid-season apples are ripe in early September, while late-season apples start to become ripe in late September and October. Many of the late-season varieties can also be stored in a fridge or cold shed for several months into the winter.

Some apple varieties are self-fertile, but most are not. However in most areas of the UK you do not need to worry whether your apple trees are self-fertile or not, as there will be other apple trees in nearby gardens to help with pollination.