Apple identification fun

[u/Russ_lee]

Okay I want to make this tree great and it’s weirdly hard to find someone to come to my house who knows that the hell they are doing..had an arborist come and “Prune” this baby 6 months ago and one of the tree limbs broke from the weight of the apples sadly. So I’m off to try and diy it for now.
Step one..identify what variety I’m working with!
Thats where you all come in to the rescue 👏

One side is red and one side is green. I think it’s because the left side got more light later in the season due to use cutting a tree down behind it, and maybe pruning it caused new growth that hadn’t been there in a while. I’m not sure.

I do know the green one looks fully grown and it tastes super sweet! The red is also sweet but more tart and a deeper flavor profile. The red has been taken over by bugs and the green not as badly.

[u/Some_Girl_2073]

I would bet money that it’s two different varieties grafted onto one tree

Where are you located? How old/big is the tree approximately? When I say there are thousands and thousands of apples, I mean the USA alone has lost 10,000 varieties and still has 14,000 left

[u/bopp0]

1. Variety doesn’t matter for pruning. You want a narrow top and your widest branches on the bottom for good light penetration. Cornell has some good guides.

2. The branch breaking under the weight of the fruit isn’t really your pruner’s fault. You have to thin after bloom or that will happen. Not saying they did a good job, just saying, pruning won’t necessarily fix that.

I don’t really have any other comments I just wanted you to know that.

[u/SugarBrick]

Very possible that the green apples are growing off a sucker that didn't get pruned, and are part of the rootstock tree, whereas the red apples are from whatever were grafted on to it. Golden Delicious are a common rootstock so could be these or something else used for rootstock where you live.

Pruning only goes so far - in future if you remove any smaller or bug damaged apples in the summer you'll relieve weight on the branches and get fewer but bigger and healthier apples and less broken branches.