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“Ambrosia” Appears to be a Strong Finisher on the Tree

One of the traits of Ambrosia that appears to be somewhat unique to that cultivar is the fact that unlike cultivars that look finished on the tree long before they actually are, Ambrosia looks like it’s light years away from harvest in the last week or two before it is actually ready to be picked.

This cultivar is one that is being fairly widely planted in Ontario at the current time. It has some excellent traits, including its storability.

Ambrosia will sit in the tree canopy and not look like much until the last few days of September when it develops its characteristic flavour, size and colour attributes. It is considered to be a bi-colour apple with a golden coloured calyx end that is somewhat distinct. Where Ontario grown Ambrosia has been test marketed its acceptance has been good.

The Ambrosia crop has a very narrow harvest window if it’s to be held in long-term storage. In other words, it has to be picked over a very short time period to maintain its prime fresh apple attributes. It will store for several months in standard CA and comes out hard and crisp with very high flavour and texture ratings when properly handled.

Test trees were watched very carefully through the spring and early summer of 2005. The winter of 2004/05 was a hard winter to some plantings of apple in the Province, especially those cultivars known to be less hardy than standards, such as the traditional strains of McIntosh. Ambrosia appears to be okay as far as the winter hardiness factor is concerned for our major apple growing districts in Ontario.