How do the fruits of the 'Cardinal Bea' apple tree taste? Everything you need to know about growing and caring for the Cardinal Bea apple can be found in this article.
With its medium-sized fruits and juicy flesh, the 'Cardinal Bea' apple is in no way inferior to its pompous name. Today it is only rarely used for extensive apple cultivation, but the apple is still a welcome guest on meadow orchards or in private gardens. In our article we will tell you about the advantages of the Kardinal Bea apple variety and what you need to know about the cultivation and care of the old fruit variety.
Apple 'Cardinal Bea': profile
| Fruit | medium to large; mainly colored dark red |
| Flavour | cute |
| Yield | high and regular |
| Harvest time | from mid-October |
| Maturity for pleasure | October to November |
| Shelf Life | bad |
| Growth | medium strong |
| Climate | not suitable for locations endangered by late frost |
| Diseases and Pests | susceptible to Monilia pathogens |
Origin and History
Even if the 'Cardinal Bea' apple inspires many people today, its emergence was anything but planned: In the 1930s, Jesuits found the variety as a chance seedling in Baden-Württemberg and cultivated the Cardinal Bea apple from then on . The apple variety owes its unusual name to its Christian discoverers. They named the apple variety after the Roman Catholic Curia Cardinal Augustin Bea, who lived between 1881 and 1968 and also came from Baden-Württemberg.
Flavor and characteristics of the Cardinal Bea apple
The large to medium-sized, predominantly dark red apples that adorn the 'Kardinal Bea' apple variety are particularly attractive. The sugar content of the fine-celled pulp is high, and the mouthfeel is rather soft and juicycrisp.
Cultivation and care of the 'Cardinal Bea' apple variety: This is important to note
'Cardinal Bea' is a robust apple variety. It grows more moderately, whereby the growth naturally depends on the site conditions and the base - i.e. the root part of the tree. Due to the medium-strong growth, a regular, annual pruning of the apple tree is necessary, but the work is limited, especially on weak-growing bases. Unfortunately, the 'Kardinal Bea' apple tree branches only hesitantly, so that without a pruning a tightly upright growing bush without much fruit wood is easily created. Especially the training cut and maybe even the formation - i.e. aligning and binding the branches - is important with this variety.
In a suitable location and with the right care, the 'Cardinal Bea' apple variety is able to bear fruit regularly and deliver consistently high yields. Such a suitable location should not be endangered by late frost and should not have too light, sandy soil. In a normal, fertile garden soil, however, the tree usually grows without major problems with pests and diseases. Only fruit rot is a problem for the variety: the fruits are relatively easily attacked by various fungal pathogens such as Monilia fruit rot. So if you have ever had problems with this disease in your garden, you should refrain from choosing this apple variety.
Tip: The Cardinal Bea apple is a good pollinator for many apple tree varieties and is itself best complemented by 'Cox Orange' or 'Idared', but also the 'White Clear Apple ' pollinated.
When planting an apple tree in general and also with the Cardinal Bea apple, the best starting conditions should be created. Because the roots of the young trees are not deep yet, it is best to help them out with a high-quality peat-free potting soil. This initially provides nutrients for good growth and gets the tree through the first winter without any problems. In the further course of growth, however, the trees of the Cardinal Bea apple have a comparatively low nutrient requirement. Annual fertilization with a small amount of a primarily organic universal fertilizer such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer is completely sufficient to cover the needs of the large tree.
Harvesting and using the 'Cardinal Bea' apple variety
From the middle/end of October you can pick and enjoy the juicy fruits of the Cardinal Bea apple. yourRipeness for eating extends from October to November, because unfortunately the autumn apple can only be stored for a short time. If you still want to have something of the apple for longer, you should process its fruit into apple juice, because this is ideal as a juice or cider apple. But the variety can also be used as a table apple because of its harmonious taste and fine aroma. Of course you can also use Cardinal Bea apples for baking and cooking.
The 'Kardinal Bea' variety cannot be stored long enough for you? A very durable variety is the 'Ribston Pepping', which has few requirements and has a sweet, winey, excellent taste.