Apple Elstar

Apple Elstar

Apple Elstar is a premium Continental dessert apple that has earned a devoted following among discerning fruit growers across the UK. A cross between Golden Delicious and Ingrid Marie, Elstar combines the best of both parents — the sweetness and aroma of Golden Delicious with the crispness and colour of Ingrid Marie — to produce a truly outstanding eating apple with a complex, rich flavour.

About the Fruit

Elstar apples are medium to large in size with attractive yellow skin heavily flushed and striped with bright orange-red. The flesh is cream-coloured, firm and very crisp with a wonderfully balanced sweet-tart flavour and a rich, aromatic quality that sets it apart from more ordinary varieties. Harvest in October and the fruit stores well for several weeks, maintaining its quality and flavour.

Growing Information

• Mid to late season variety — harvest from October
• Outstanding flavour — one of the finest dessert apples for fresh eating
• Stores well — maintains quality for several weeks after harvest
• Requires a compatible pollinator nearby — pollination group B (e.g. James Grieve, Discovery)
• Thrives in a sunny, sheltered position with well-drained, fertile soil
• Suitable for growing as a bush, half-standard or cordon

Planting Tips

Plant in a warm, sunny and sheltered spot with well-drained, fertile soil. Elstar benefits from a warm growing season to develop its full flavour, so choose the sunniest position available. Stake young trees for the first few years, water regularly during dry spells and prune in winter to maintain an open, productive framework. Feed with a balanced fertiliser in spring.