4 ms·

Back home in South Carolina, we had apple trees in our front yard. Never used any pesticides or anything, just let them grow. Anyway, they were about half the s

by nether 11y ago

Back home in South Carolina, we had apple trees in our front yard. Never used any pesticides or anything, just let them grow. Anyway, they were about half the size of grocery apples, almost completely covered in insect bites, and tasted like ass. Incredibly sour, strangely dry, and very little sweetness. So thank god for pesticides and Fuji apples.

eru 11y ago
You could have tried a different variety.
acomjean 11y ago
probably a "real" apple tree. Most apple varieties are created by grafting a branch of an existing variety onto a new tree. Thats why despite genetic variation, they taste pretty much the same. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
- redblacktree 11y ago
  It's not my experience that apple varieties in the grocery taste "pretty much the same." Maybe you meant something else? Apple trees are grafted because the best-tasting varietals don't form the most hardy root system. You put the good-tasting apple tree on top and the hardy strain on the bottom (to become the roots)
  - acomjean 11y ago
    Each variety tastes the same (a golden delicious apple tastes like other golden delicious apples). The grafting does that among other things "Maintain consistency". A hardy root system that you mention is one. I started looking into it because my dad has a giant apple tree thats much bigger than the ones I've seen in an orchard, but the apples taste surprisingly bitter. I guess another reason they like grafting is the trees stay smaller and its easier to pick the fruit.
YZF 11y ago
I live in BC, Canada, and here you can find apples, a large variety of berries, pears, plumbs... All growing in random open areas and all delicious and relatively pest free without any pesticides. Even though a lot of those aren't native they seem to do pretty well. Perhaps the fact they're not grown commercially in this area helps... I grew up in Israel where pests were definitely more of a problem but you could still grow many different fruits without using pesticides and I used to pick many fruit off trees for eating... (Mangoes, oranges, and many more). Some of those "large" grocery apples have no taste and a floury texture though we do get some local apples in season here that are good... Monocultures is a big problem. If you have a good mix you're less likely to have serious issues. It can still happen but less likely. You also need to take care of your trees, prune them, water them etc. if you want to get good fruit... Just let them grow doesn't always work...
NoGravitas 11y ago
South Carolina is kind of outside the range of apple cultivation unless you plant a specialized heat-tolerant variety. We have apple trees in the back yard, which we grow without pesticides or fertilizer, and the results are "okay". Small, but tasty, not a whole lot of production. You're better off growing peaches here. We stock up on apples whenever we drive through the mountains of North Carolina, which are just right for apples.

by nether 11y ago

eru 11y ago

You could have tried a different variety.

acomjean 11y ago

probably a "real" apple tree. Most apple varieties are created by grafting a branch of an existing variety onto a new tree. Thats why despite genetic variation, they taste pretty much the same. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting

redblacktree 11y ago
It's not my experience that apple varieties in the grocery taste "pretty much the same." Maybe you meant something else? Apple trees are grafted because the best-tasting varietals don't form the most hardy root system. You put the good-tasting apple tree on top and the hardy strain on the bottom (to become the roots)
- acomjean 11y ago
  Each variety tastes the same (a golden delicious apple tastes like other golden delicious apples). The grafting does that among other things "Maintain consistency". A hardy root system that you mention is one. I started looking into it because my dad has a giant apple tree thats much bigger than the ones I've seen in an orchard, but the apples taste surprisingly bitter. I guess another reason they like grafting is the trees stay smaller and its easier to pick the fruit.

YZF 11y ago

I live in BC, Canada, and here you can find apples, a large variety of berries, pears, plumbs... All growing in random open areas and all delicious and relatively pest free without any pesticides. Even though a lot of those aren't native they seem to do pretty well. Perhaps the fact they're not grown commercially in this area helps... I grew up in Israel where pests were definitely more of a problem but you could still grow many different fruits without using pesticides and I used to pick many fruit off trees for eating... (Mangoes, oranges, and many more). Some of those "large" grocery apples have no taste and a floury texture though we do get some local apples in season here that are good... Monocultures is a big problem. If you have a good mix you're less likely to have serious issues. It can still happen but less likely. You also need to take care of your trees, prune them, water them etc. if you want to get good fruit... Just let them grow doesn't always work...

NoGravitas 11y ago

South Carolina is kind of outside the range of apple cultivation unless you plant a specialized heat-tolerant variety. We have apple trees in the back yard, which we grow without pesticides or fertilizer, and the results are "okay". Small, but tasty, not a whole lot of production. You're better off growing peaches here. We stock up on apples whenever we drive through the mountains of North Carolina, which are just right for apples.