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Pristine is an attractive green-yellow apple, and usually the first to ripen – if you want fresh new season apples in July or early August, this is the one get. You could think of it as an early-season Golden Delicious.

It has a sweet/tart flavor, and also keeps quite well – a week or so in the fridge. Pick when still slightly green for use in the kitchen, or wait until it turns golden yellow for eating fresh.

Pristine’s other notable feature is its good disease-resistance, and the apples usually have an attractive clean finish.

How to grow

Pristine is generally easy to grow, and is very resistant to scab, and has some resistance to mildew. It was developed to have some resistance to cedar-apple rust and fireblight, but some reports suggest it may be slightly susceptible.

It’s main weakness is a tendency to over-crop, resulting in small fruits. Thinning of the fruitlets in early June should resolve this.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

As the name suggests, Pristine was developed in the co-operative breeding program of Purdue University, Rutgers University, and the University of Illinois (PRI …). It’s development reference was “Co-op 32” and it was released in the 1990s.

Pristine characteristics

• Gardening skillAverage
• Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
• Pollination group4
• Pollinating othersAverage
• PloidyDiploid
• Bearing regularityBiennial tendency
• Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
• WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators
• Picking seasonVery early
• UsesEating fresh
• CroppingGood
• Keeping (of fruit)1 week
• General resistanceGood
• FireblightSome susceptibility
• ScabVery resistant
• Cedar apple rustSome susceptibility
• MildewSome resistance
• Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)
• Country of originUnited States
• Period of origin1950 – 1999
• Fruit colorYellow