4 ms·

Wow. Weird when something on HN hits this close to home. I work in AgTech (automated irrigation) in Washington State. I can attest to the love-hate boom-bust re

Wow. Weird when something on HN hits this close to home. I work in AgTech (automated irrigation) in Washington State. I can attest to the love-hate boom-bust relationship this variety is having with the Washington apple farmer. The article leaves a key point out. This fruit tree is really temperamental to water correctly. Irrigators love and hate this thing. Some fruit bears overwatering gracefully. But with this tree, it begs for water, but if you overwater it even a little, the fruit fails easily. I've watched some big players (Pytech) dump millions of dollars into closed (fully automated), open (just telemetry and recommendation, human then waters) and hybrid loop irrigation methods to try and get this right. It remains a real pain to get right. (edit: the cosmic crisp is also difficult to grow Just Right(tm))

ethbr1 2y ago
Conversely, what are the easiest Washington state apple varieties to grow?
- travisgriggs 2y ago
  Great question. I honestly don’t know. Great example of how “what people complain about” makes up a disproportionate amount of our knowledge.
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    The biased selection of only working on the problem side. Been there.
  - easygenes 2y ago
    Can you list the varieties that you know of to be problems? That at least gives a clue to which are less problematic.
- drewcoo 2y ago
  https://treefruit.wsu.edu/web-article/apple-varieties/ https://treefruit.wsu.edu/web-article/apple-varieties/
windexh8er 2y ago
Interesting! I actually live in MN so am spoiled by the easy access to quality varieties. Honeycrisp are so "common" here (grown here) that I definitely avoid WA grown stock that seeps into grocery stores more quickly than ever. I currently have 4 apple trees on the property but have only lived with apple trees for about the last 4 years now. I can't even imagine getting the conditions for a Honeycrisp tree right given the trees I have seem very temperamental. Last year (summer of '23) was a horrible year for our trees due to the summer long drought. Some of my trees are in irrigation zones so they did get decent water, but still failed to yield much. This year was bonkers. I clocked 34" of rain in my backyard and all 4 trees had the highest yield so far. While these varieties aren't as delicious as a freshly picked, ripe Honeycrisp, they're still 1000x better than any mealy, soft apple from the store that was picked 6+ months ago. The other thing with Honeycrisp is that all of the local orchards have netting protecting all the Honeycrisp because, since the skin is so thin, they're highly susceptible to hail damage. They just seem like too much work given I can buy them grown here. Curious how long it will be before the automation is perfected? Is this a normal cycle with a new breed of apple?
- thelittleone 2y ago
  A property with apple trees (and space to grow more) is seriously enviable. Hands in earth is one of my favorite therapies. I've been contemplating a move for a few years and this additional inspiration may just be the tipping point.
  - throwthrow4567 2y ago
    the problem with trees is that it takes several years before the first fruit, and the slightest problem with weather will easily kill off all the season's batch... otherwise even more than tempting than an orchard would be an "edible forest"/"forest garden"
    - anon84873628 2y ago
      On a small plot especially you want lots of diversity. Plant many different species and varieties of fruit so you have something to harvest all year long. (Trying to preserve excess harvest can be fun at first but quickly becomes a time consuming chore). Different shapes and sizes of trees also allow you to partition the sunlight and soil resource more efficiently.
segmondy 2y ago
So how did we grow these decades ago when when we didn't have this fancy irrigation systems?
- anon84873628 2y ago
  "We" only grew varieties that were less finicky, or only grew them in climates to which they were adapted. We also had less consolidation so failures were less systemic.
- mplewis 2y ago
  For one, the honeycrisp is only three decades old.
  - foobarchu 2y ago
    50 years old technically, 1991 just seems to be when it was released to the public.
- travisgriggs 2y ago
  We (the industry) paid (barely) an army of immigrant labor to run around turn valves on/off on 4 wheelers. The (automated) irrigation systems are (primarily) to reduce labor costs. There are some plusses to precision watering as well. But the industry is about labor cost reduction.

ethbr1 2y ago

Conversely, what are the easiest Washington state apple varieties to grow?

travisgriggs 2y ago
Great question. I honestly don’t know. Great example of how “what people complain about” makes up a disproportionate amount of our knowledge.
- ethbr1 2y ago
  The biased selection of only working on the problem side. Been there.
- easygenes 2y ago
  Can you list the varieties that you know of to be problems? That at least gives a clue to which are less problematic.
drewcoo 2y ago
https://treefruit.wsu.edu/web-article/apple-varieties/ https://treefruit.wsu.edu/web-article/apple-varieties/

windexh8er 2y ago

Interesting! I actually live in MN so am spoiled by the easy access to quality varieties. Honeycrisp are so "common" here (grown here) that I definitely avoid WA grown stock that seeps into grocery stores more quickly than ever. I currently have 4 apple trees on the property but have only lived with apple trees for about the last 4 years now. I can't even imagine getting the conditions for a Honeycrisp tree right given the trees I have seem very temperamental. Last year (summer of '23) was a horrible year for our trees due to the summer long drought. Some of my trees are in irrigation zones so they did get decent water, but still failed to yield much. This year was bonkers. I clocked 34" of rain in my backyard and all 4 trees had the highest yield so far. While these varieties aren't as delicious as a freshly picked, ripe Honeycrisp, they're still 1000x better than any mealy, soft apple from the store that was picked 6+ months ago. The other thing with Honeycrisp is that all of the local orchards have netting protecting all the Honeycrisp because, since the skin is so thin, they're highly susceptible to hail damage. They just seem like too much work given I can buy them grown here. Curious how long it will be before the automation is perfected? Is this a normal cycle with a new breed of apple?

thelittleone 2y ago
A property with apple trees (and space to grow more) is seriously enviable. Hands in earth is one of my favorite therapies. I've been contemplating a move for a few years and this additional inspiration may just be the tipping point.
- throwthrow4567 2y ago
  the problem with trees is that it takes several years before the first fruit, and the slightest problem with weather will easily kill off all the season's batch... otherwise even more than tempting than an orchard would be an "edible forest"/"forest garden"
  - anon84873628 2y ago
    On a small plot especially you want lots of diversity. Plant many different species and varieties of fruit so you have something to harvest all year long. (Trying to preserve excess harvest can be fun at first but quickly becomes a time consuming chore). Different shapes and sizes of trees also allow you to partition the sunlight and soil resource more efficiently.

segmondy 2y ago

So how did we grow these decades ago when when we didn't have this fancy irrigation systems?

anon84873628 2y ago
"We" only grew varieties that were less finicky, or only grew them in climates to which they were adapted. We also had less consolidation so failures were less systemic.
mplewis 2y ago
For one, the honeycrisp is only three decades old.
- foobarchu 2y ago
  50 years old technically, 1991 just seems to be when it was released to the public.
travisgriggs 2y ago
We (the industry) paid (barely) an army of immigrant labor to run around turn valves on/off on 4 wheelers. The (automated) irrigation systems are (primarily) to reduce labor costs. There are some plusses to precision watering as well. But the industry is about labor cost reduction.