'Wettringer Taubenpfel' is a good choice for anyone who has a large garden but wants to spend little time on maintenance. The medium-sized apple grows on a vigorous tree, which fortunately is very robust and healthy.
The apple variety 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' is also simply called 'Wettringer', more rarely 'Pigeon Apple from St. Luis'. The 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' 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 the owners of larger gardens.
contents
- Wettringer pigeon apple: profile
- Origin and history of the 'Wettringer pigeon apple'
- Properties, taste and appearance of the autumn apple
- Plant and care for the apple variety 'Wettringer Taubenpfel'
- Apple 'Wettringer Taubenpfel': harvest and use
Wettringer pigeon apple: profile
| synonyms | 'Wettringer', 'pigeon apple of St. Luis' |
| fruit | medium-sized; yellow ground color with dark red top color |
| the taste | sweet and sour |
| yield | high, sometimes swaying; mostly early onset |
| harvest time | from mid-September |
| maturity | October to November |
| shelf life | medium; Apples harvested early can be stored until the end of December |
| growth | strong |
| climate | very undemanding; very frost hardy |
| diseases and pests | very resistant to diseases and pests |
Origin and history of the 'Wettringer pigeon apple'
In addition to the 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' there are other Taubenpfel - the demarcation between the Varieties is not always easy, because the pigeon apples are a fairly old group of apple varieties.
The 'Wettringer' is said to be an old Middle Franconian regional variety that originated around 1900. On the other hand, the variety is often described as identical to the 'Pigeon Apple of St. Luis' variety, which, however, saw the light of day as early as 1855. The origin of this variety is not yet entirely clear, so we can eagerly await what the pomologists will find out about this.
Properties, taste and appearance of the autumn apple
The Wettringer apple is medium-sized and partly irregular in shape. The halves are sometimes formed with different thicknesses, but otherwise the surface is uniform and shows only faint edges towards the stem. The shape is usually conical, tapering to a point, spherical or slightly flattened fruits are found much more rarely. The base color of the peel is yellow and the dark red, streaked top color can cover 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 peel is a whitish-green, medium-fine and moderately loose flesh, that doesn't contain a lot of juice and, above all, tastes sweet and sour without adding a specific aroma unfold.
Plant and care for the apple variety 'Wettringer Taubenpfel'
The apple variety 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' is one of the most undemanding apple varieties, but two conditions should definitely 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 soil or, if in doubt, choose another apple variety set. If you want to prepare your garden soil for planting the 'Wettringer' apple tree, you can do this, for example, with our nutrient-rich and peat-reduced Plantura organic universal soil along with ours Plantura organic universal fertilizer bring to use. Our compost improves both soil that is too light and soil that is too heavy.
- Space to develop: The 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' grows vigorously and is therefore not suitable for small gardens.
The 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' is recommended for cultivation on meadow orchards. But that has not only to do with its strong growth and the high and wide, later overhanging crown. Above all, the 'Wettringer' is suitable for extensive cultivation because it is extremely robust and healthy. The wood and flowers 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 smaller gardens, we recommend grafting on the medium-growing rootstock M7 and cultivation 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 caretaker Floor. Because the crown of the 'Wettringer' grows so fast, annual pruning and possibly supporting it with a stake is essential - otherwise the trunk can hardly support the crown. Anyone who cultivates the tree as a standard in the orchard should grow it as a standard or half-stem on its own root or on the strong-growing rootstock M25. There is no annual pruning and the tree grows very large.
The Wettringer Taubenpfel blooms mid-early and is a good pollen donor. He is himself, for example, of the varieties 'Muskatrenette', 'Berner Rosenapfel', 'Eehriger Blutstreifling', 'ontario' and 'Idared' fertilized.
Apple 'Wettringer Taubenpfel': harvest and use
In normal weather conditions, the Wettringer apple can be harvested between the middle and end of September for storage. Wettringer apples harvested early can be stored until the end of December. Because the fruits are wind-resistant, they can only be picked from the tree in October or November when they are ready to eat. However, these apples, which are harvested later, are no longer suitable for storage. The 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' is a tasty dessert apple, can be used to make mush and compote and is particularly suitable for distilling fruit brandies.
A wonderful addition to a 'Wettringer Taubenpfel' in the garden is the 'ontario‘. The trees can not only pollinate each other, they also complement each other in terms of usability: Is the end of the storability of the 'Wettringer' is reached, the maturity of the 'Ontario' begins, which at more correct Storage of the apples lasts until May.
