Red Delicious Apple
Pollination & Compatibility Guide
Red Delicious pollination requirements, bloom timing, and compatible partners. Complete guide to spur habits, parentage exclusions, and crop management.
Red Delicious is Self-Sterile (Needs 1 Partner)
Every commercial Red Delicious strain — Starking, Richared, Starkrimson, Redchief, Topred, Oregon Spur and the rest — is a bud sport of the same original tree, so no two of them can pollinate each other and none can pollinate a plain Red Delicious. Treat the whole Delicious family as one tree when planning the block. Despite the name, Golden Delicious is NOT related to it and is a perfectly good partner. Fuji, Empire, Melrose and Kidd's Orange Red are all its offspring and cannot be relied on either. Red Delicious needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 3–5 to set a reliable crop.
- Chromosome Ploidy
- Diploid (2n)
- Required Companions
- 1 Diploid Partner
- Bloom Group
- Group 4 (Mid-Spring)
- Harvest Timing
- Mid (-10d from Golden Delicious)
Flowering Period & Overlap Window
Apple flowering periods are classified into numbered bloom groups (1 through 6). A variety reliably cross-pollinates with cultivars in its own group or adjacent groups (±1 group).
Any compatible diploid apple flowering within Group 3 to 5 provides matching blossom overlap.
Compatible Pollination Partners (64)
| Cultivar | Bloom Group | Overlap Type | Harvest | Primary Uses | Interactive Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late Concurrent (±0d) | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Mid Concurrent (±0d) | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
Kandil Sinap | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late Concurrent (±0d) | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Mid ±10d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Tolman Sweet | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±10d delta | Cooking, Cider | Test Cross |
Snow (Fameuse) | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Mid ±15d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Tydeman's Late Orange | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±15d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±20d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Newtown Pippin | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±20d delta | All-Purpose, Storage | Test Cross |
White Winter Pearmain | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±20d delta | All-Purpose, Storage | Test Cross |
York Imperial | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±20d delta | All-Purpose, Storage | Test Cross |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±25d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±25d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
SweeTango® | Group 4 | Full Overlap | Early ±25d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 4 | Full Overlap | Late ±30d delta | All-Purpose, Storage | Test Cross |
Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (24)
These varieties overlap in flowering time with Red Delicious but cannot fertilise it due to sterile pollen (triploids) or shared genetic incompatibility alleles.
Arkansas Black produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Ashmead's Kernel produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Baldwin produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Belle de Boskoop produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Ralls Janet × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Blenheim Orange produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Delicious × Sturmer's Pippin (cross direction not established)) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Bramley's Seedling produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Ralls Janet × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
A sport of a direct parent (McIntosh × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Fall Pippin produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Ralls Janet × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
A sport of the same cultivar — genetically identical, so it carries the same incompatibility alleles and cannot pollinate it.
Jonagold produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Karmijn de Sonnaville produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Cox's Orange Pippin × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
A sport of a direct parent (Jonathan × Red Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Mutsu (Crispin) produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Orleans Reinette produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A sport of a direct parent (Daniel's Red Duchess (a bud sport of Duchess of Oldenburg) × Delicious) — genetically identical to that parent, so roughly half its pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Spigold produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Stayman Winesap produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
A direct parent (Winesap × unknown) of the cultivar this is a sport of — genetically the same tree, so roughly half the pollen is non-functional and it is not a reliable partner.
Zabergau Reinette produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Grower Commentary: Managing Red Delicious Pollination & Spur Habit
Red Delicious is a diploid, self-sterile apple cultivar flowering in bloom group 4 (mid-to-late season). It requires at least one compatible diploid partner flowering across the same window — such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn — to achieve reliable commercial fruit set.
Originally discovered in Iowa as a chance seedling ('Hawkeye') and propagated through numerous high-coloring bud sports (such as Bisbee, Redchief, and Starkrimson), Red Delicious predominantly exhibits a compact spur-bearing habit. Spur-type trees produce high flower density on short permanent spurs, requiring disciplined pruning to thin out old spur clusters and maintain adequate light penetration throughout the canopy.
Breeding exclusions are extensive: Red Delicious is a direct parent of major commercial varieties including Empire (McIntosh × Red Delicious), Fuji (Ralls Janet × Red Delicious), Melrose (Jonathan × Red Delicious), and Kidd's Orange Red (Cox × Red Delicious). These descendants share S-incompatibility alleles and must not be relied upon as solitary pollination companions.
While modern commercial planting has declined in favor of higher-acid, high-flavor bicolors, vast mature acreages remain productive globally. Maintaining packout quality demands careful harvest timing to prevent watercore and mealy post-storage texture.
Key Orchard Considerations for Red Delicious
Prune systematically to renew aged spur systems and prevent excessive shading in high-density spur-type blocks.
Exclude direct descendants including Empire, Fuji, and Melrose as exclusive cross-pollination partners due to shared S-alleles.
Produces abundant viable diploid pollen across bloom group 4, serving as a dependable pollinizer for compatible mid-late varieties.
Take Red Delicious from Planning to Planting
Use Kropigo's free browser tools to model your block density, tree counts, and pollinizer rows, then maintain permanent orchard records row by row.
Pollination Checker
Check Red Delicious against supported cultivars with compatible flowering and pollination data.
Commercial Block Planner
Calculate high-density tree spacing, row geometry, and establishment costs.
Block Record Keeping
Track pruning, chemical thinning, and harvest tallies block by block from the orchard.