The ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’ is a good choice for everyone who has a large garden but does not want to spend a lot of time looking after it. The medium-sized apple grows on a fast-growing tree that is fortunately very robust and healthy.
The apple variety ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’ is also called simply ‘Wettringer’, more rarely ‘Pigeon apple from St. Luis’. The Wettringer Taubenapfel ’apple bears pointed fruits with a dark pink, bluish-striped skin and is rather undemanding. However, the tree grows strongly and is therefore particularly interesting for owners of larger gardens.
contents
- Wettringer Taubenapfel: Profile
- Origin and history of the ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’
- Characteristics, taste and appearance of the autumn apple
- Plant and care for the apple variety ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’
- Apple ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’: harvest and use
Wettringer Taubenapfel: Profile
| Synonyms | 'Wettringer', 'Pigeon Apple of St. Luis' |
| fruit | medium-sized; yellow base color with dark red covering color |
| taste | sweet and sour |
| Yield | high, partly swaying; usually onset early |
| Harvest time | from mid-September |
| Ripe for enjoyment | October to November |
| Shelf life | middle; Apples harvested early can be stored until the end of December |
| growth | strong |
| climate | very undemanding; very frost hardy |
| Diseases and pests | very robust against diseases and pests |
Origin and history of the ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’
In addition to the ‘Wettringer pigeon apple’ there are other pigeon apples - the demarcation between the Varieties is not always easy, because the pigeon apples are a very old group of apple varieties.
The ‘Wettringer’ is said to be an old Central Franconian regional variety that originated around 1900. On the other hand, the variety is often described as being identical to the ‘Pigeon Apple of St. Luis’, which, however, saw the light of day as early as 1855. The origin of this variety is not yet clear and it is waiting to be seen what the pomologists will find out in this regard.
Characteristics, taste and appearance of the autumn apple
The Wettringer apple is medium-sized and sometimes irregular in shape. The halves are sometimes of different thicknesses, but otherwise the surface is uniform and shows only weak edges towards the handle. The shape is usually conical, tapering to a point, spherical or slightly flattened fruits are much rarer. The base color of the skin is yellow and the dark red, streaky covering color can take up the entire surface of the fruit. The skin is waxy and has a bluish frosting, similar to that of a plum. Under the medium-thick skin there is a whitish green, medium-fine and moderately loose pulp, which does not contain a lot of juice and, above all, tastes sweet and sour without a specific aroma unfold.
Plant and care for the apple variety ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’
The apple variety ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’ is one of the most undemanding apple varieties, but two conditions should be met:
- Good soil: If you want to plant the ‘Wettringer’, you should definitely improve sandy and nutrient-poor as well as heavy and wet soils or, if in doubt, switch to a different one Apple variety set. If you want to prepare your garden soil for the ‘Wettringer’ apple tree planting, you can, for example, use our nutrient-rich and peat-reduced Plantura organic universal soil together with our Plantura organic universal fertilizer bring to use. Our compost improves both soils that are too light and too heavy.
- Space to develop: The ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’ is growing rapidly and is therefore not particularly suitable for small gardens.
The ‘Wettringer pigeon apple’ is recommended for cultivation on orchards. But this has not only to do with its strong growth and the high and wide, later overhanging crown. The ‘Wettringer’ is particularly suitable for extensive cultivation because it is extremely robust and healthy. The wood and blossom are frost-hardy and the fruits ripen well even in cooler locations, the tree is very resistant to diseases and pests. Powdery mildew and apple scab can only occur in absolutely windless locations, whereas cultivation at high altitudes is possible without any problems.
For cultivation in the smaller garden, we recommend grafting on the medium-strong growing M7 rootstock and cultivating it as a half-stem or bush tree, because this ensures an earlier start of yield, slightly slowed down growth and brings the tree closer to the for maintenance Floor. Because the crown of the ‘Wettringer’ grows so strongly, an annual pruning and possibly also supporting it with a stake are inevitable - otherwise the trunk can hardly support the crown. Those who cultivate the tree as a high trunk on the orchard should grow it as a high trunk or half trunk on their own roots or on the strong-growing M25 rootstock. The annual pruning is omitted and the tree becomes very large.
The ‘Wettringer pigeon apple’ flowers mid-early and is a good pollen donor. He himself is, for example, from the varieties ‘Muskatrenette’, ‘Berner Rosenapfel’, ‘Öhriger Blutstreifling’, ‘Ontario‘And‘ Idared ’fertilized.
Apple ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’: harvest and use
The Wettringer apple can be harvested between the middle and the end of September in normal weather for storage. Wettringer apples harvested early are kept in the warehouse until the end of December. Because the fruits are windproof, they cannot be picked directly from the tree until October or November. These apples harvested later, however, are no longer suitable for storage. The ‘Wettringer Taubenapfel’ is a tasty table apple, can be used to make puree and compote and is particularly suitable for burning fruit brandies.
A wonderful addition to a ‘Wettringer pigeon apple’ in the garden is the variety ‘Ontario‘. The trees can not only fertilize each other, they also complement each other in terms of usability: Is When the ‘Wettringer’ reaches the end of its shelf life, the Ontario ’is ready for consumption more correct Storage of apples lasts until May.