Orange Pippin Forum Board

I would like to make cider. Are there any good apple varieties that would work here in GA. I live an hour east of atlanta.

There are several that might work:
Arkansas Black, Bramley's Seedling, Hewes Crab, Nittany, Wickson Crab.

The most reliable hot-climate varieties are Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala and GoldRush. Not cider varieties necessarily, but perhaps worth considering as part of your project.

Here is a link of cider variety descriptions. I started a cider orchard 5 years ago, acquiring my initial trees from Vintage Virginia Apples, and had very positive experiences with them.

http://www.vintagevirginiaapples.com/cidervarieties.htm

I agree with Womblesd, we visited Vintage Virginia Apples last fall and they certainly know a thing or two about cider. However as I recall they regarded themselves as being on the southern limit for many of the traditional English hard-cider varieties

Thanks a lot for the input. I had considered Newtown Pippin apples but the orchard in ATL thought they wouldn't work here.

Hi! I live in hot dry desert - Central Calif border,10 miles North of Mexicali, Mx. Temps of 115* routine in summer. Very low chill area. Best apple has been Anna -- 6 year old tree delivered 20+ lbs this year. Early crop- will ripen on tree (if beasties don't eat) or will ripen on kitchen counter. Eatable when just turning yellow , delicious when fully ripe. Small core, meaning the apple can be sliced and dried easily without removal of core. Phoenix, Az area reports excellent success with King David and Dixie Red Delight, as well as Fuji and others. Anna often planted successfully in Yuma, Az.

if you near the same latitude as atlanta, GA I would plant whatever sounds good to you you should have plenty of chill for any apple in your area.

I don't know if you are still making your selections, but another option would be Gravenstein. OrangePippinTrees.com lists it as a "low chill" variety, and I know that it is / was heavily grown in the coastal area north of San Francisco which has mild winters also. My reading indicates that it makes a pretty decent single-apple cider. I like them for eating enough to have planted one.

The downside of Gravenstein is that it is a very early blooming (group 1) triploid, which might make finding a pollinator from your list a bit more challenging (you'll need a diploid from group 1 or 2); Wickson crab would fit that need, and is also supposed to be a very good cider apple (if a bit on the sweet side?). If you then had room for a third tree you could put in a Hewes Virginia crab (pollinating group 3, diploid) which would then cross-pollinate with the Wickson. (Someone with more experience than me should confirm all of this pollination info, but I hope I'm right since I'm doing something like this in my own orchard.)