Red Delicious Apple

The iconic dark red apple with five prominent bumps at the base, once the world's most popular variety. Red Delicious is best for fresh eating with its mild, sweet flavor but becomes mealy when cooked. Choose newer strains that have better flavor and texture than the overly selected commercial types.

Red Delicious seeds can be collected and grown experimentally but will not reproduce the parent variety. Clean seeds from ripe fruit and stratify in moist peat at 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 to 90 days. Sow one-half inch deep in sterile seed-starting mix under bright light. Germination occurs in two to four weeks at 65 to 75 degrees. Red Delicious seedlings grow vigorously and can be used as rootstock or grafted to desired varieties after two years of growth.

The Season Plate

Your Red Delicious Apple Year

Composed for Zone 7 · typical seasons · frost passes Apr 2, returns Nov 1

Sow Red Delicious Apple Mar – Apr, pick Sep – Oct. Set your climate below and every date on this plate re-times itself.

Sowing window

Mar – Apr

re-timed to your frost dates

Plant out

after Apr 2

once frost risk has passed

First picking

around Mar 14

≈ 730 days from sowing · 400–800 lbs per plant

Composed for —ColdTemperateMildWarmUse my locationUsed once to set your season · only the zone is kept

Week-by-week Red Delicious Apple reminders watering, feeding and pruning, timed to your dates

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Frost alerts for your garden a warning before a cold night costs you the crop

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Succession sowing dates so the picking never gaps mid-season

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Red Delicious apple trees are widely adapted and relatively easy to grow across a broad range of climates. Plant dormant trees in early spring in full sun with well-drained soil. The trees have a naturally upright growth habit and train well to a central leader system. Space standard trees 20 to 25 feet apart or dwarf rootstock trees 10 to 12 feet apart.

Red Delicious requires a pollination partner and is itself a good pollinator for other varieties. Effective partners include Golden Delicious, Gala, and Fuji. The trees bloom mid-season and set fruit readily. Thin fruitlets to one per cluster for best size and to prevent biennial bearing. Select newer strains for improved flavor, as original commercial selections were bred primarily for appearance at the expense of eating quality.

Prune annually to maintain an open canopy with good light penetration, which is essential for developing the deep red skin color. The upright habit may require spreading of scaffold branches to improve structure and light distribution. Water consistently during the growing season and apply balanced fertilizer in early spring. Avoid late nitrogen applications that delay fruit coloring.

Plant chives, garlic, and marigolds around Red Delicious trees to deter common pests. The tree serves as a good pollination partner for many other apple varieties when planted in a diverse orchard. Comfrey at the base provides nutrient-rich mulch material when cut. Nasturtiums act as trap crops for aphids, drawing them away from the apple tree. Avoid planting near walnut trees due to juglone toxicity.

The Society Table

Chives belongs beside it. Walnut Tree doesn't.

Old growers' knowledge, checked against Red Delicious Apple's real companion table below — test any plant you're growing.

Grows well in the company of · 3

ChivesGarlicMarigold

Keep apart · 1

Walnut Tree

Plant Red Delicious Apple with good neighboursThe planner flags conflicts before they're in the ground

Related growing guides

Herbs

Chives

A good companion for Red Delicious Apple

Vegetables

Garlic

A good companion for Red Delicious Apple

Flowers

Marigold

A good companion for Red Delicious Apple

Fruits

Apple (Dwarf)

View growing guide

Red Delicious grows well in most well-drained soils with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. The trees have moderate fertility needs and benefit from a spring application of balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer. Avoid excess nitrogen, which delays color development and promotes the mealy texture that plagues this variety. Adequate potassium promotes red skin color. Calcium sprays during fruit development help prevent bitter pit.

Ideal Temperature

Hardiness Zone Compatibility

Red Delicious apples ripen in mid to late September. The fruit is ready when it has developed full, deep red color and the flesh has a sweet, mild flavor. Seeds should be dark brown. Pick with a gentle upward twist, as the fruit separates easily from the spur when ripe. Timing is important because Red Delicious becomes mealy quickly if left on the tree too long after peak ripeness. Harvest over two pickings as the outer canopy ripens first.

Storage & Preservation

Store Red Delicious at 32 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit in high humidity for two to three months. The texture degrades faster in storage than firmer varieties, developing a mealy quality. For best results, consume within six to eight weeks of harvest. Red Delicious is not recommended for baking or cooking as the flesh disintegrates and lacks tartness. They can be juiced for sweet cider blends or dehydrated as apple chips, though flavor is mild.

Fire Blight

Disease

Blackened, wilted shoots and blossoms with a scorched appearance; bacteria spread rapidly through succulent growth.

Prevention Avoid excessive nitrogen fertilization. Do not irrigate overhead during bloom. Remove overwintering cankers during dormant pruning.

Fix: Prune infected wood 12 to 18 inches below visible symptoms during dry weather. Apply streptomycin or copper sprays during bloom.

Apple Scab

Disease

Dark velvety spots on leaves and fruit; infected fruit develops cracked, corky lesions that reduce appearance and quality.

Prevention Rake fallen leaves in autumn. Prune for open canopy to promote air flow. Begin preventive fungicide sprays at green tip.

Fix: Apply captan or myclobutanil on a seven to ten day schedule through petal fall. Sulfur is effective in organic programs.

Codling Moth

Pest

Entry holes near the calyx or side of fruit with brown frass and tunneling larvae feeding through the core.

Prevention Monitor with pheromone traps. Apply kaolin clay barriers. Maintain strict sanitation of dropped fruit.

Fix: Time insecticide applications to first-generation egg hatch. Trunk banding and mating disruption reduce populations in subsequent years.

San Jose Scale

Pest

Tiny circular gray scales on bark and fruit; heavy infestations cause red halos on fruit skin and can kill branches.

Prevention Apply dormant oil spray before bud break to smother overwintering scale. Inspect nursery stock carefully before planting.

Fix: Apply crawler-targeted insecticide sprays when the tiny mobile crawlers emerge in late spring. Prune and destroy heavily infested branches.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

The most significant problem with Red Delicious is the mealy, bland texture of many commercial strains that were selected purely for visual appeal rather than eating quality. Newer strains have better flavor but the variety still softens quickly in storage. The upright growth habit requires training to develop a productive, well-shaped tree. Red Delicious is moderately susceptible to fire blight and requires consistent management in humid climates.

Growing Tips

1. Always plant at least one compatible pollinator variety within 50 metres — Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, or Granny Smith all pollinate Red Delicious effectively. Without cross-pollination, fruit set will be sparse or fail entirely.
2. Choose a planting site with full sun (minimum 8 hours per day) and excellent air drainage. Cold air pooling in low spots dramatically increases frost damage risk at bloom time and promotes fungal disease.
3. Prepare a planting hole at least twice the width of the root ball and amend heavy clay soils with compost to improve drainage — Red Delicious will not tolerate waterlogged roots.
4. Apply a 10 cm deep mulch ring extending to the drip line every spring, keeping mulch at least 15 cm away from the trunk to prevent collar rot and rodent nesting against the bark.
5. For home gardeners, semi-dwarf rootstocks such as M.7 or MM.106 offer the best balance of manageable tree size, earlier fruiting (3–5 years), and good productivity without requiring the intensive staking that fully dwarfing rootstocks demand.
6. Maintain a central leader training system in early years by selecting one dominant upright shoot and suppressing competitors — this creates a strong scaffold that supports heavy fruit loads without limb breakage.
7. Thin aggressively: leaving only one apple per spur and spacing fruit 15–20 cm apart is counterintuitive but produces apples that are dramatically larger, better coloured, and more flavourful than unthinned clusters.
8. Avoid applying high-nitrogen fertilisers after midsummer — excessive late-season vegetative growth is prone to fire blight infection and reduces hardening of wood before winter.
9. To maximise the deep red colour that Red Delicious is prized for, ensure trees experience cool nights (below 13°C) in the 4–6 weeks before harvest. In warm climates, reflective mulch mats placed under the tree canopy can help improve colour by redirecting light onto the shaded sides of fruit.
10. Harvest at the correct stage rather than waiting for maximum colour — a fully red apple that has gone past its starch conversion window will be mealy regardless of storage conditions. Use the starch-iodine test on a sample fruit and aim for an index reading of 5–6 for best texture.