The apple variety 'Cox Orange' has been used professionally for a long time and its popularity is almost unbroken. We explain whether and how the exquisite table apple can also be grown in the home garden.
The apple variety 'Cox Orange Reinette', also called 'Cox Orange' for short, produces very tasty fruits. Therefore, despite its high demands, the tree is still cultivated on a large scale. In return, the small apples of the 'Cox Orange' variety, with their fine flesh and special aroma, meet the highest demands of apple lovers. However, really successful cultivation can only be achieved in home gardens with the best conditions and requires dedicated care of the tree including fertilization, pruning and thinning.
‘Cox Orange’: Wanted Poster
| Synonyms | 'Cox Orange Reinette', 'Improved Muscat Reinette', 'Cox Orange Pippin' |
| Fruit | small to medium sized; light yellow base color with orange to cloudy red top color |
| Flavour | spicy and noble |
| Yield | irregular |
| Harvest time | mid-September to mid-October |
| Maturity for pleasure | from October |
| Shelf Life | good; Can be stored until February |
| Growth | initially strong, later slightly decreasing; richly branched |
| Climate | even and humid; not too hot and too dry |
| Diseases and Pests | susceptible to fruit tree canker, specks, collar rot, blood lice, apple scab and powdery mildew in unfavorable locations |
Cox Orange Apple: Origin and History
The 'Cox Orange' variety was grown from seed between 1825 and 1830 by a gentleman named Richard Cox in Colnbrook-Lawn, England, on his own apple orchard. The seed came from free flowering of the variety 'Ribston Pepping'. The pollinator and donor of the second half of the genome is therefore unknown. The variety was introduced to the market in 1850 and was already widespread in 1858.Synonyms for 'Cox Orange' are 'Improved Muskatrenette' and 'Cox Orange Pippin'.
There are also random mutations of the variety, for example red mutants such as 'Rote Cox Orange', 'Cherry Cox' or 'Korallo' , also 'Crimson' and 'Queen'.
Characteristics and taste of the dessert apple
The fruit of 'Cox Orange' is small to medium-sized and usually very regularly shaped. The cross-section of the apple is always almost circular and the whole fruit is spherically flattened with an even surface. There is sometimes a fleshy nose at the stalk cavity, i.e. a bulge towards the stalk.
The basic color of the skin is light yellow when fully ripe, the top color is orange-red to cloudy red, marbled and striped. The shell is rather rough and shows a net-like or point-like russeting. The pulp is yellowish and traversed by yellow-green veins. A noble and variety-specific aroma unfolds in the firm, medium-fine celled and spicy flesh.
The 'Cox Orange' apple variety is said to be only suitable for intensive, i.e. high-maintenance, cultivation in the best fruit-growing locations. The extent to which this is true also depends on the gardener's requirements: Anyone who has no problem with irregular yields and smaller apples with scab spots can also recommend 'Cox Orange' for the home garden.
Cultivation and care of the apple variety 'Cox Orange'
The following should be considered when growing the demanding 'Cox Orange Pippin': The growth of 'Cox Orange' is strong when young, later it decreases slightly. The direction of growth is rather tightly upright. Many thin shoots are formed, which branch out profusely and hang down heavily under fruit. Without pruning, a bushy, pyramidal and overhanging crown would form.
Because of its strong growth, the 'Cox Orange' is not suitable for cultivation as a standard, because then the bushy, strong growth can hardly be controlled. Half-stems or low-stems on medium-growing bases such as MM106 or M7 are more suitable. Slow-growing rootstocks for 'Cox Orange' can only be used on the best soil, here the M2 and M4 varieties are compatible and recommended.
The soil at the place of cultivation should be rich in nutrients, deep and humic. The necessary uniform moisture and at the same time air permeability can only be achieved on humus-rich soils. When planting, we therefore recommend plenty of mature compost or high-quality potting soil such as our Plantura organic universal soilto incorporate into the ground. In order to permanently cover the nutrient requirement, annual fertilization with organic, soil-care fertilizers is advisable.
On heavy and wet soils, the 'Cox Orange' variety is susceptible to fruit tree canker and can also easily suffer frost damage to the wood. The climate should be even and humid, extreme heat and drought lead to cracked fruits.
The flowering of 'Cox Orange' is medium early, lasts a long time and is very sensitive to frost. As a result, the blossoming is irregular and fluctuates from year to year.
Good pollinating varieties are 'Yellow Edelapfel', 'Golden Delicious', 'Goldparmäne', 'James Grieve', 'Winterbananapfel' and 'Weißer Winterkalvill'.
In order to achieve a regular yield, it is absolutely necessary to pruning the apple tree every year and thinning out the fruit.
During thinning out in May or June, so many little fruits are removed from the inflorescences that only one apple per cluster is left over. This method encourages a good flowering set the following year and results in slightly larger and more developed apples. If pruning and thinning are neglected, alternation easily occurs in 'Cox Orange'. So a year with the highest yield and small apples is always followed by a year with fewer, larger apples.
It is important to choose a good location, as the 'Cox Orange' variety is susceptible to cancer, especially in unfavorable locations. Ditch, collar rot, which is blood lice, apple scab, and powdery mildew.
Harvesting and using the 'Cox Orange' apple
Depending on location and weather conditions, the ‘Cox Orange’ apples are ready for harvest between mid-September and mid-October. You can tell when the time is right when the stalk can be easily detached from the shoot and he althy apples fall to the ground by themselves. The apples are particularly tasty from October/November and, if stored in a cool place in the cellar, until February. However, the 'Cox Orange' apple is prone to wilting, flesh browning and fruit rot in storage. It must therefore be checked very regularly.
As an exquisite dessert apple, the Cox orange apple is particularly suitable for direct consumption. But it is also good for baking and preparing desserts such as baked apples.
By the way: If you have problems with an allergy to apples, you should avoid eating 'Cox Orange'. Because the variety contains only a few polyphenols, which slow down the reaction to the allergens, it is very likely that 'Cox Orange' will cause an allergic reaction.
instead of onesusceptible and demanding apple variety, would you prefer to rely on a robust and he althy apple from the outset? Then we advise you to consider the tasty variety 'Reglindis', because it is characterized by its resistance to many apple tree diseases.