COSMIC TIPS TO GROWING WA 38

by | Jun 22, 2017 | Cosmic Crisp, Featured News

The first commercial trees were planted this spring of the new apple variety WA 38, following nearly a decade of research into the horticultural traits at four research plantings and the storage behavior of the fruit.

Developed by Washington State University and marketed under the brand name Cosmic Crisp, the WA 38 has unique behavior compared to most scion varieties.

Those of us who’ve worked with the trees in the field have found the variety to be grower-friendly, but for those growers who’ve just planted their trees, here are the top five tips for the first year:

Article by Stefano Musacchi on Good Fruit Grower

Stefano Musacchi, Ph.D., is an associate professor and endowed chair in tree fruit physiology and management at Washington State University in Wenatchee, Washington. He can be reached atstefano.musacchi@wsu.edu.

GROWERS PIN BIG HOPES FOR COSMIC CRISP

by | Jun 16, 2017 | Cosmic Crisp, Featured News

Washington apple growers planted 630,000 new Cosmic Crisp apple trees this spring and will plant an estimated 10 million more trees over the next two years to revolutionize variety offerings of the nation’s largest apple-producing state.

MANSON, Wash. — Chris Anderson is in his 37th year of operating a small apple orchard once owned by his father on the north shore of Lake Chelan.

He’s among more than 50 Washington growers selected in a drawing for this spring’s first planting of the Cosmic Crisp, a new apple variety that industry leaders hope will usher in a new era.

Article by Dan Wheat, Capital Press

TREES FOR NEW “COSMIC CRISP” APPLE GOING INTO THE GROUND

TREES FOR NEW “COSMIC CRISP” APPLE GOING INTO THE GROUND

by | Jun 8, 2017 | Cosmic Crisp, Featured News

PROSSER, Wash – Hundreds of thousands of trees bearing a brand new variety of apple are going into the ground in Eastern Washington. It’s the first major apple variety ever developed in Washington.

It’s called the Cosmic Crisp — a cross between an Enterprise and Honey Crisp apple. “I think it’s going to be one of the major apples in our industry,” says Dave Allen, of Allen Brothers Fruit. He has been growing and testing the Cosmic Crisp for about six years now.

The apple was developed by WSU researchers, and this spring 600 thousand commercial trees are being planted in orchards in Eastern Washington. “Well, it’s a very wonderful apple. It’s a sweet, tart apple, it stores a long time, it doesn’t brown very much and it’s a very delightful apple,” says Allen.

Article by Kristi Paulus, KEPR TV

NEW APPLE VARIETIES AND NEW ORCHARDS COME TO KITTITAS

by | Jun 2, 2017 | Cosmic Crisp, Featured News

Apple orchards continue to expand in Kittitas County as fruit companies buy hay fields and replant them with new, and never before seen, varieties of fruit.

A big reason for the change is because of the weather conditions in Kittitas County, which are milder than areas like Yakima, said Rafael Garcia, area manager for the Zirkle Fruit Company in Kittitas County. Honeycrisp and similar varieties grow too big in hotter weather.

“The quality of the fruit that we’re picking is really good and that’s why we’re putting more orchards in here,” Garcia said. “Because the summer is shorter and we can control the size better.”

Article by Tony Buhr, Daily Record

 

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN A NEW APPLE COMES TO TOWN

by | May 11, 2017 | Cosmic Crisp, Featured News

Apple growers in Washington state, who dominate American apple production, are starting to plant a new kind of apple. It’s the fastest launch of a new variety in history.

These farmers have been looking for a new variety to grow. Older types of apples, like Red Delicious, have fallen out of favor among American consumers. So growers are ripping out old fruit trees — in this case, apricot trees — to make way for an apple variety called Cosmic Crisp. It’s the most successful result so far of an apple breeding effort that Bruce Barritt began at Washington State University more than 20 years ago.

Article by Dan Charles, Northwest Public Radio