Six Finger Jack Apple Tree | Bare Root, Zone 4

Representative photo of a large bright red apple on the branch, not Six Finger Jack itself

Six Finger Jack Apple (Spring 2027)

$59.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

See trees that will pollenize it Apple Pollination Map

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceNot tested yet

Apple scab : Unknown, no published data yet
Cedar-apple rust : Unknown, no published data yet
Fire blight : Unknown, no published data yet
Powdery mildew : Unknown, no published data yet

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our apple disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Six Finger Jack Apple is an apple tree we've estimated at zone 4 from its Colorado record (winters to -30°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for an apple or crabapple).

Hardy to	Zone 4 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 4, colder half included (winters to -30°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 900 hours (700 to 1,200). Our estimate. No published figure exists for this variety yet. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), late spring here. Not self-fertile. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 3 to 5 on our chart). Good partners we carry: Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple, Burgundy Apple and 103 more. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Apple Pollination Map.
Rootstock and size	Bud 118: semi-dwarf in our dry Montana soils, semi-standard on paper, about 12 to 18 ft tall unpruned. Stands on its own, few suckers. Plant about 15 ft apart. Our rootstock guide.
Good for	Fresh eating (8/10), hard cider (6/10). Scores are our 1 to 10 ratings, but we're still new to this one, so they lean on published descriptions and other growers rather than our own harvests. 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
What you get	Bare root, 4-6 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

First year for us, so everything below is secondhand until we have fruited it and seen it through a few Montana winters.

Overview

Six Finger Jack is a Colorado seedling apple with a reputation for being flat-out sugary. Not just sweet, sugary. It is one of the varieties that put the Four Corners on the map for fruit a hundred years ago.

Origin and History

It came up as a chance seedling near Lakeview, in Montezuma County, Colorado, and it is named for a local character called Six Finger Jack because the tree was found growing by his old cabin. Along with Colorado Orange and Thunderbolt, it was one of the apples winning medals at state and world fairs back when southwest Colorado was serious apple country. Most of those varieties were lost when orchards got pulled and replanted to Red Delicious. The Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project found it, propagated it, and put it back into circulation. An old strain of Delicious is thought to be one of its parents. Jonathan turns up as the other parent in some accounts, but we have not seen that confirmed.

Fruit and Uses

Large fruit, and the eating quality is the first thing anybody mentions. The sugar runs high enough that the folks who saved it expect it to make a good cider apple as well, blended with something sharper to balance it out. Ripens in the fall.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are on Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Plan on about 15 feet between trees, and up to 18 feet if you would rather have airflow than density.

Pollination

Six Finger Jack needs a pollenizer. It blooms mid-season, so anything in that window works. From what we carry, Honeycrisp, Liberty, Macoun, Cortland and most of the crabapples are good options.

Cold Hardiness

We are listing it at zone 4 based on where it has grown in Colorado. That is an educated placement rather than a tested one for Montana. We would put it in the warmer western valleys, out of any spot where frost pools, until we have our own numbers.

About the photo: this isn’t Six Finger Jack itself. Photos of Six Finger Jack are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo by Fumiaki Hayashi, via Unsplash, under the Unsplash License.

Questions we get about Six Finger Jack Apple

Does Six Finger Jack Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Six Finger Jack Apple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 3 to 5 on our chart). Partners we carry include Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple.

How cold hardy is Six Finger Jack Apple?

We list Six Finger Jack Apple at zone 4, which means winters down to about -30°F. That's an educated placement based on where it has grown in Colorado, not a tested one for Montana. Put it in the warmer western valleys, out of any spot where frost pools, until we have our own numbers.

How many chill hours does Six Finger Jack Apple need?

About 900 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 700 and 1,200. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

How big does Six Finger Jack Apple get?

We graft Six Finger Jack Apple onto Bud 118 (semi-dwarf in our dry Montana soils, semi-standard on paper), which makes a tree roughly 12 to 18 ft tall if you never prune it. Plant about 15 ft apart.

What is Six Finger Jack Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Six Finger Jack Apple are fresh eating (8/10), hard cider (6/10). Since we haven't fruited it yet, those scores lean on MORP's notes and other growers rather than our own harvests. Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Six Finger Jack Apple disease resistant?

We don't know yet. Nobody has published solid disease data on Six Finger Jack Apple for apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew, so we list it as unknown instead of guessing. That doesn't mean it's weak. Plenty of the plants we grow have never been through formal disease trials. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Six Finger Jack Apple?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Six Finger Jack Apple with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

What arrives, and when does Six Finger Jack Apple ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 4-6 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Six Finger Jack Apple

Six Finger Jack Apple needs a different apple or crabapple nearby to set fruit. Every tree below blooms at the same time and has pollen that works for it. Plant partners within about 100 feet.

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

Pollination Needs a partner

Pollen Not tested yet

107 trees we carry will pollenize it. Showing the best matches, in-stock first.