Williams' Pride Apple
Pollination & Compatibility Guide
Williams' Pride apple pollination guide: diploid, early bloom group 2, scab-resistant red summer apple. Compatible partners and multi-pick notes.
Williams' Pride is Self-Sterile (Needs 1 Partner)
Williams' Pride needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 1–3 to set a reliable crop.
- Chromosome Ploidy
- self sterile
- Required Companions
- 1 Diploid Partner
- Bloom Group
- Group 2 (Early-Spring)
- Harvest Timing
- Early (-35d 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 1 to 3 provides matching blossom overlap.
Compatible Pollination Partners (65)
| Cultivar | Bloom Group | Overlap Type | Harvest | Primary Uses | Interactive Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early Concurrent (±0d) | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
Summerred | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early Concurrent (±0d) | All-Purpose | Test Cross |
Mollie's Delicious | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±5d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±5d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
Sansa | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±5d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Jersey Mac | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±10d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Jonamac | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±10d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±10d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±10d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±20d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Macoun | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid ±20d delta | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Duchess of Oldenburg | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±25d delta | Cooking | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Late ±25d delta | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Late ±35d delta | Cider, All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Lodi | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early ±35d delta | Cooking | Test Cross |
Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (12)
These varieties overlap in flowering time with Williams' Pride but cannot fertilise it due to sterile pollen (triploids) or shared genetic incompatibility alleles.
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.
Blenheim Orange produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Bramley's Seedling produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Fall Pippin produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Gravenstein 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.
Mutsu (Crispin) produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Ribston Pippin produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Roxbury Russet produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Spigold produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Tompkins King produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Grower Commentary: Williams' Pride Early Red Fruit and Picking Passes
Williams' Pride is a diploid, self-sterile red dessert apple from the Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois programme, released in 1988 from two unreleased selections. It carries scab resistance and flowers early, in bloom group 2. Pollen is viable, so it can serve neighbouring early bloomers, but it needs a partner that opens at the same time because it cannot set fruit alone.
Fruit ripens about five weeks before Golden Delicious in maritime north-west European conditions. It is an early, short-keeping dessert apple, so match planting size to what you can sell within a few weeks, through farm gate, local markets or early-season wholesale. A few trees often suit a mixed fruit farm better than a full block.
Early-season varieties often ripen unevenly, so plan more than one picking pass rather than stripping the tree at once. Early flowers carry frost risk, so site and drainage matter. Scab resistance reduces spring sprays, but keep scouting for mildew and insect pests.
Key Orchard Considerations for Williams' Pride
Early bloom is exposed to spring frost; plant on air-draining ground and choose rootstocks you can protect.
Schedule two or three picks as colour and ground colour develop to protect quality and shelf life.
Short storage life suits direct sales; avoid planting more than your summer markets can take.
Take Williams' Pride 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 Williams' Pride 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.