GOLDEN DELICIOUS
| Origin | West Virginia, USA, 1890. Introduced in 1914. |
| Parentage | Unknown; circumstantial evidence suggests Grimes Golden x Golden Reinette. |
| Availability | Early October to early May. |
| Source | Widely available, several strains. |
| Quality | Rich, sweet, aromatic; crisp, juicy, moderately firm; distinctive. Yields high quality juice and cooks well. |
| Fruit: |
| Size | Medium to large under its better climates; medium to smaller under cooler climates and when under-thinned. |
| Surface | Smooth to partly russeted depending on climate, strain, season and spray management; bruises show, are unsightly and must be avoided throughout the harvest to market sequence. |
| Ground Colour | Greenish to rich golden yellow depending on climate, culture, season and maturity. |
| Over Colour | None in warmer climates; grown in cooler climates Goldens may have a pinkish blushed cheek. See comments section below. |
| Flesh Colour | Cream, may vary somewhat depending on maturity and growing conditions from a greenish light yellow to rich, almost golden, cream. |
| Harvest Season | Early October, usually after Red Delicious. |
| Storage | Cold store Octable to January, under Controlled Atmosphere and low O2 to June or later. Needs high humidity but a slight loss of moisture before handling will reduce its tendency to bruise and blemish. |
| Strains | Three types: low russeting (one from USA, one from Europe), spur and pink blushed. Some of the spur strains are more prone to russet than the standard. |
| Tree: |
| Vigour | Medium. Spur type strains have low vigour. |
| Habit | Upright, spurry. |
| Precocity | Bears early and heavily, soon becoming strongly biennial if crop load is not accurately managed. |
| Fruit Placement | Primarily on spurs. |
| Bloom Period | Moderately late. |
| Pollination | Readily pollinated by other diploids with overlapping blossom periods. It is an excellent pollen donor. |
| Nutrition | Needs good nutrition; high Nitrogen can lead to greenish fruit (preferred by some markets) and to late maturity. |
| Crop | One of the most productive apple cultivars, especially when kept in annual bearing. |
| Synchrony | There is some variation in maturity among the fruits. |
| Adaptation | Widely grown and fairly hardy; best adapted to the middle of the apple range; likes a warm autumn; dislikes humid weather, especially in the post-blossom period. |
| Disease Reaction | Moderately resistant to scab on the fruit, powdery mildew, European canker. Slightly susceptible to moldy core. Very susceptible to cedar apple rust but not juniper rust. |
| Insect Reaction | Somewhat susceptible to mites. An apple maggot favourite, prone to stinging bug injury. |
| Rootstock | Because of its type of tree - medium size, somewhat spurry, Golden Delicious has less need for size controlling rootstock. |
| Comments: |
| Golden Delicious is one of the most widely planted apple cultivars of the world. It exhibits high quality for eating fresh, processing, for juice and is very productive. It can be grown successfully in Nova Scotia, always recognizing that Nova Scotia is located toward the fringe of the Golden Delicious range. Market interest in medium sizes and a lightly pink blushed strain has interesting implications for Nova Scotia. |
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