The Gewürzluikenapfel is an old Baden-Württemberg regional variety with a long tradition. We explain why and how you can plant the apple in warm locations as a versatile house apple tree.
The Gewürzluiken apple, also called 'Gewürzluiken' for short, comes from Baden-Württemberg and loves the rather warm climate that prevails there. Only with a little warmth does it mature into a tasty dessert apple in late autumn. The apple can also be used very well for cidering, juicing and even for burning. We present the properties and peculiarities of the old apple variety.
Spice Luikenapple: Profile
| Synonyms | 'Spice Boxes' |
| Fruit | medium; yellow base color with carmine to dark red top color |
| Flavour | juicy, sweet and sour, spicy |
| Yield | medium high and regular |
| Harvest time | from October |
| Maturity for pleasure | November to December |
| Shelf Life | very good; Can be stored until March |
| Growth | strong at first, later medium strong; densely branched |
| Climate | warm, sheltered but not windless; High altitudes are unsuitable |
| Diseases and Pests | susceptible to fruit tree canker and apple scab in unfavorable locations |
History and origin of the 'Gewürzluiken' variety
The 'Gewürzluiken' is an old local variety from Baden-Württemberg that was cultivated before 1885. From the middle of the 20th century it was spread throughout southwest Germany as a recommendable variety. The aim of the larger-scale production was the market sale, because the tasty apple is best suited for direct consumption. But the 'Gewürzluiken' was also popular for self-sufficiency from the home garden.
Because the Gewürzluiken apple has a medium climate requirement, the variety is unfortunately not particularly suitable for northern German weather conditions. Soit never found its way to the regions closer to the coast.
Appearance, taste and properties of the apple variety
The 'Gewürzluiken' is a medium-sized, sometimes large apple with a somewhat irregular, usually conical or spherical shape. The surface often shows five distinct edges. The basic color of the fine, matt skin is yellow-green at first, later completely yellow. The opaque color covers half or even all of the spice luiken apple and is mottled or marbled crimson to dark red. Strong brown-red stripes also adorn the shell. The flesh inside is very light, almost white or sometimes greenish white. The structure is a little coarse, but fresh and juicy with a pleasantly sweet and sour taste and spicy aroma. The whole apple has a strong scent.
Special features of the cultivation and care of the Spice Luiken apple
The tree of the 'Gewürzluiken' variety grows vigorously when young, later only moderately vigorous. It forms a broad, ascending and densely branched crown if it is not regularly steered in the right direction by pruning measures. With the right rootstock, the 'Gewürzluiken' can be trained into a strong growing standard, a slightly smaller half-stem, but also a very small quarter-stem or bush tree. For large trees, such as those found on less well-tended orchards, the use of strong-growing rootstocks, especially M25, M11 or A2, is recommended. Medium sized trees are obtained by grafting on M7 or MM106. You can get even smaller trees with the M9 rootstock - however, a stable, permanent tree connection is absolutely necessary here to support the plant.
When pruning this variety of apple trees, the dense branching is particularly important: regular thinning is essential, otherwise the crown becomes so dense that the fruit inside hardly gets any light and does not develop a red overcolor. In addition, there is a particularly good climate here for the development of fungal leaf and fruit diseases. It is worth tying up the main branches with twine so that the young trees' upward striving growth is more horizontal.
As far as the location is concerned, the spice luiken apple is simply frugal: the main thing is that it is sufficiently warm! No special demands are made on the soil, a normal garden soil is completely sufficient. The floor should not be wet and cold. Humic, dark soils are very clay-rich andHeavier ones are preferable because they warm up much more slowly in spring. A more sheltered but not windless location is perfect, allowing the strain to maintain good he alth. Altitudes are also not optimal because the mean annual temperatures are too low for the 'Spice Luiken'.
The flowers appear late in spring and last a long time. Suitable pollinators are accordingly 'Gloster', 'Goldparmäne', 'Ingrid Marie', the 'Glockenapfel' and 'Grahams Jubilee Apple'.
Due to the late opening of the flower buds, this variety almost never freezes. This results in a regular yield. If this regularity is not interrupted by care errors such as excessive pruning, the Gewürzluiken apple reliably produces medium-high yields and high fruit quality.
In cool locations, on clayey soil and in stagnant air, the 'Gewürzluiken' tends to develop fruit tree cancer and apple scab.
Hint: The wood of the 'Spice Box' is susceptible to frost damage. This is one of the reasons why it is not suitable for cold locations. In addition, the fruits do not develop their aroma properly in climates that are too cool, so they taste bland and grassy.
Harvest and use spice luiken apples
The spice Luiken apple can be harvested for storage in warm Indian summers as early as October. Stored cool and dark, the variety keeps until March. The prerequisite here is that only he althy, slightly ripe and early harvested fruit goes into storage.
The spice luiken apple is ripe for consumption on the tree and in storage from around November to December. Then it is suitable as a wonderful table fruit, for baking, canning, cider and juicing as well as for distilling.