Category: Apple trees
Collections: Apple varieties with the best flavour, Fruit connoisseur, Cox's Orange Pippin substitutes
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Apple trees

Rubinette Rosso

Rubinette Rosso is a red-coloured sport of Rubinette, sometimes known as Rafzubin.  The apples have an attractive but subdued red-orange flushed appearance, and are distinctly spherical.

The main reason for growing Rubinette Rosso is for its flavour.  It is without doubt one one of best-flavoured apple varieties, with an unsurpassed balance of sweetness and rich sharpness, making it an essential variety for anyone with a passion for apples.

Fresh fruit for sale of this variety

Rubinette Rosso apple trees for sale (2010/2011 season)

Deliver to mainland UKDelivery to the mainland UK (price includes delivery)

Mature heightSupplied as*Delivery
period		Price
inc. delivery		Quantity
Large (2.5m - 4.5m)1-year - Bare-root - MM106 rootstockNov-March£30.00

Product formats | Bare-root or Container-grown | Delivery | Rootstocks

All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.

*Delivery period: Container-grown trees will be delivered from September 2010. Bare-root trees will be delivered from mid-November 2010. You can order now and your items will be reserved for you, but you will not be asked to pay until nearer the time of delivery.



Uses

  • Flavour quality - Exceptional
  • Flavour style - Sweet/Sharp
    Probably the best balance of sweet and sharp of any apple variety
  • Good for eating fresh
  • Picking season - Late
  • Use / keeping - 1-2 months

Growing

  • Cropping - Light
  • Fertility - Self-sterile
  • Flowering group - 3
  • Gardening skill - Requires a bit of effort
    Follow the advice given here and you should be successful
  • Disease resistance - Poor
  • Vigour - Weak growing

Climate

Pollination partners for Rubinette Rosso

Rubinette Rosso is in flowering group 3. It is self-sterile and needs a pollination partner nearby. The following varieties will pollinate Rubinette Rosso:

Important: advice about pollination


Horticultural characteristics of Rubinette Rosso apple trees

The main challenge with Rubinette Rosso is its tendency to produce small apples.  It can also be susceptable to the disease apple scab.  However if you follow the advice here you should be able to produce a reasonable crop of good quality apples.

Firstly to minimise disease problems, keep the ground around the tree free from grass and use a mulch to suppress weeds.  Religiously clear up all old fruit and fruitlets, which can harbour disease.  Rubinette Rosso can be grown with some success without any chemical treatments (we do ourselves) but a spray programme (either conventional or organic) should give better results.

Next, tackle the fruit size issue.  When the fruitlets form in late spring, thin them out - then thin them again.  Allow no more than 1 fruit per set of blossoms, and make sure you remove the central fruit in the cluster (which tends to be the biggest, known as the 'king' fruit).  Remember, quality not quantity is the best way with Rubinette Rosso!

Historical details

Developed in the mid-20th century in Switzerland, Rubinette is a cross between Cox's Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious.  Rubinette Rosso is a red sport of the original variety.



Rubinette Rosso - Fruit

Rubinette Rosso - Fruit

Click to view larger image


Rubinette blossom - Blossom

Rubinette blossom - Blossom

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Example trees as supplied (container-grown only)

This is an illustration of what our products look like as delivered. Please remember that trees are natural products, so this information is for general guidance only. The trees at this stage are 1-2 years old, and will get larger as they grow older, the likely mature heights are indicated in the ordering section above. The trees you receive may differ in some respects from those shown here, for some of the following reasons:

  • Many of these photos were taken in early autumn - trees delivered during winter will not have leaves.
  • There can be a considerable size variation between different varieties of the same species.
  • Some varieties naturally "feather" or produce many side branches at an early age. Others may not feather at all.
  • In some cases we may have to "tip" the tops of trees to fit in our delivery cartons. Please do not be alarmed, as this will be carried out immediately prior to despatch, and is actually good practice when planting a new tree.

For comparison purposes the model in our photos is 5ft 6" / 1m 68cm tall. Click any of the images to view a larger one.




Product photo
2-year pre-trained apple tree in a 12L container on M27 rootstock
Product photo
2-year pre-trained apple tree in a 12L container on M26 rootstock
Product photo
2-year pre-trained apple tree in a 12L container on MM106 rootstock
Product photo
1-year apple tree in a 3L container on M9 rootstock
Product photo
Cordon apple tree in a 12L container on M9 rootstock