Sandow Apple (Spring 2027)

This is our first year growing Sandow, so everything below is secondhand until we get more long-term data from our own mother trees.

Overview

Sandow is an open-pollinated seedling of Northern Spy raised at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. It bears younger than Spy and it's a bit hardier, and the fruit is a crisp, juicy, red-washed winter apple.

Origin and History

The seed came from apples that fruited at the Central Experimental Farm in 1898, according to W.T. Macoun's The Apple in Canada (1916). Those crosses weren't made by hand, so the other parent is unknown. It was first described in the Farm's 1912 report and officially introduced in 1935. For a while nurseries had it wrong. An Ontario bulletin from the early 1940s said "somehow most of our nurseries have had something else instead of Sandow," though it added that true stock was available by then.

Fruit and Uses

The original 1912 Ottawa description reads: medium size, roundish and ribbed, yellow "well washed with deep crimson," with yellowish flesh that's "crisp, tender, juicy," subacid, sprightly and pleasant, and a season of "December to late winter." M.B. Davis at Ottawa wrote that the fruit "is of good size, highly coloured, well finished and very high in quality." St. Lawrence Nurseries describes it as aromatic, juicy and crisp "with a nice, tart 'snap.'" It's picked from late September to early October, and a 1947 Quebec catalog said it keeps in storage until April. It's mainly a fresh-eating apple, and some growers use it for pies. One warning: like Spy, it's subject to bitter pit.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are on Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Plan on about 15 feet between trees, up to 18 feet for airflow. Davis said it "bears earlier than Spy, on a strong vigorous tree," which is a big deal if you've ever waited on a Spy. The tree grows upright and is known to be a little hard to train. It's reported to handle scab better than Spy. If you topwork, a 1952 Canadian government bulletin found Virginia Crab incompatible as a frame for Sandow.

Pollination

Sandow needs a pollenizer. We're estimating it blooms mid to mid-late, so pair it with something like Honeycrisp, Wealthy, Black Oxford, Oriole, Prairie Spy or Haralson.

Cold Hardiness

St. Lawrence Nurseries in northern New York rates Sandow to -40F "with occasional winter injury." Most of the Canadian sources put it hardier than Spy but not as hardy as McIntosh. That lines up with our zone 3 listing, but it's right at the edge, so give it a good site if you see -40F.

Photo credit: “Cross section of Sandow” by the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.