Cripps Pink Apples

The Cripps Pink variety was originally bred by John Cripps at the (then named) Western Australia Department of Agriculture by crossing the Australian apple Lady Williams with a Golden Delicious in order to combine the best features of both apples. The apple is tart and crisp.

Growth and development

The apple shape is ellipsoid, it has a distinctive blush mixed with a green "background," and taste is tart. The Cripps Pink variety requires a long, 200 day growth period and a hot climate, making them difficult to grow in more temperate latitudes or climates subjected to early winter freezes.

They are principally grown in Australia, but are also grown in New Zealand, Chile, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Spain, France and in the United States since the late 1990s.

Cultivation

Cripps Pink apples are the earliest to blossom (late March/early April in the Northern Hemisphere and late September/early October in the Southern Hemisphere), and some of the last to be harvested (end of October/early November in the Northern Hemisphere and late April/early May for the Southern Hemisphere). It is the significant change in temperature between night and day in the autumn that gives the apples their coloring. However, they must also be well exposed. Therefore, the trees must be carefully pruned and their fruit production well managed.