Triploid Apple Trees
Triploid apples carry an extra set of chromosomes, and their pollen is close to useless. They can't pollenize other apples, and two triploids can't pollenize each other. Plant each one with two regular apples or crabapples that bloom at the same time, so the triploid gets fruit and so do its partners.
More about planting triploid apples
A lot of great old apples are triploid. Gravenstein is one of our best sauce and juice apples. Belle de Boskoop is a top cooking apple, and Roxbury Russet and Ribston Pippin are cider and keeping apples. Ashmead's Kernel, Claygate Pearmain, Karmijn de Sonnaville and Mother round it out.
The fix is easy: two other apples, or an apple and a crab, that overlap in bloom. Crabapples make great partners because they throw a lot of pollen. Dolgo is our strongest apple pollenizer and it's hardy to zone 1b. See our good pollenizers and the apple pollination map to match bloom times.
Questions we get
What is a triploid apple?
An apple with three sets of chromosomes instead of two. The trees are often vigorous with big fruit, but their pollen is mostly sterile, so they need pollen from other trees and can't give any back.
Can two triploid apples pollenize each other?
No. Neither one has good pollen. Each triploid needs regular apples or crabs nearby, and ideally two of them.
What's a good pollenizer for Gravenstein?
Any regular apple or crab that blooms with it. A crabapple like Dolgo is an easy choice, plus a second apple so the partners pollenize each other.
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