{"id":25548,"date":"2025-02-21T15:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T20:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=25548"},"modified":"2025-02-21T15:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T20:23:07","slug":"how-can-i-identify-the-apple-variety-in-my-orchard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2025\/02\/21\/how-can-i-identify-the-apple-variety-in-my-orchard\/","title":{"rendered":"How can I identify the apple variety in my orchard?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>I live on land that was once an apple orchard. There is only one tree left and it produces great apples for pies and sauce. Its days are numbered and I would like to identify the tree so that I can plant more trees of this variety. I have tried to match the apples of my tree to pictures of apple varieties but there are so many varieties that I can&#8217;t single out my tree. It is about 20 feet tall. Please advise.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"field-section2 slds-card slds-theme_default\">\n<div class=\"slds-card__body slds-card__body_inner\">\n<div class=\"section-layout-container slds-section slds-is-open\">\n<div class=\"slds-col slds-p-horizontal_small slds-p-vertical_x-small\">\n<div class=\"slds-grid slds-size_1-of-1 label-stacked undefined\" data-target-selection-name=\"sfdc:RecordField.Case.Description\">\n<div class=\"slds-form-element slds-hint-parent test-id__output-root slds-form-element_edit slds-form-element_readonly slds-form-element_stacked\">\n<div class=\"slds-form-element__control\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #0c598e;font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif;font-size: 1.25rem\">Answer:<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Frustratingly to those in exactly your situation, who inherited or acquired a lovely unidentified apple and want to propagate\/replace it, unlabeled apple cultivars are very difficult to pinpoint. As you note, there are already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.orangepippin.com\/varieties\/apples\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">so many varieties<\/a>, and apples and crabapples hybridize freely in the wild, so it&#8217;s a guessing game to visually identify them.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all hope is lost. There are several services that will run DNA analysis on samples and try to identify them for you:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/resources\/maine-heritage-orchard\/apple-dna-testing-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MOFGA &#8220;DNA Fingerprinting Makes Apple Detection Easier for Fruit Enthusiasts&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/resources\/orcharding\/what-apple-is-this-identifying-apples-in-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MOFGA &#8220;What Apple Is This: Identifying Apples in 2020&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0(an older link, I&#8217;m not certain the program is active)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fps.ucdavis.edu\/dnamain.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UC Davis Foundation Plant Services ID System<\/a>\u00a0(expensive, but offered here if you really are motivated)<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t used these services, and can&#8217;t guarantee any results, but they&#8217;re probably the best option you&#8217;ll have to identify your apple.<\/p>\n<p>Happy gardening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I live on land that was once an apple orchard. There is only one tree left and it produces great apples for pies and sauce. Its days are numbered and I would like to identify the tree so that I can plant more trees of this variety. I have tried to match the apples [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-fruit"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How can I identify the apple variety in my orchard? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2025\/02\/21\/how-can-i-identify-the-apple-variety-in-my-orchard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How can I identify the apple variety in my orchard? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I live on land that was once an apple orchard. 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