I'm sure environmental conditions make a big difference. Maybe one day I can compare the two grown under the same conditions in the deep south.

Sometime back Skeeter recommended Fuji apples as an excellent eating apple. Yesterday, the supermarket was out of HoneyCrisp apples. Therefore, I took Skeeters advice and purchased some Fuji apples. The Fuji apple is not as crisp as is the HoneyCrisp apple, but the Fuji apple had a little better flavor (sweeter) then HoneyCrisp. Fuji, is a good apple, I will have to add it to my orchard. Earlier, I tried a Brayburn apple, which I did not like very much. Thank you Skeeter for the excellent recommendation. - Millet

I ran out of my own Fuji and Pink Lady apples, so I bit the bullet and bought myself bag of each from grocery stores. Their Fuji is as good as mine, but the Pink Lady apples are only so-so even after I stratify them myself. I think I have a very good tree of Pink Lady apples in my yard that is well suited to my growing style to produce fantastic fruits. My Honeycrisp has some nice flower buds for the first time (grafted them last year). I will be able to compare the three sometime this September through November.

Well I'm glad that I have two Fuji's growing on my tree (thanks to Joe for the second one). I'll have to try honeycrisp at some point, but it sounds like it needed much higher chill hours. I'll have to see if any of Joe's tricks would get the honeycrisp to produce fruit. I'll have to wait until my tree recovers from being operated on under the grafting knife. Right now it looks like it belongs in the infirmary.

Phillip

Philip, I don't think Honeycrisp will be a good apple for California' warm weather.. It was developed by the University of Minn. I notice that Honeycrisp is hardy to -30F. - Millet

We'll never know until you've tried them. I will run a three year performance evaluation of Honeycrisp in my yard, starting this year's harvest. I've grafted them into Jonagold and Fuji branches. Honeycrisp is moderately fireblight resistant.

Millet is probably right about Honeycrisp. It should be excellent in the foothills of California where it is cooler and yet the sun shines longer, and they perform good in the Bay Area where the summers are cooler than the inland valley. The Pink Lady and Fuji Apples generally require heat, and a lot of it to develop their flavors and quality, something that the inland Valley has to offer.

So far, the excellent tasting apples from my yard are Pink Lady, Jonagold, Fuji, Red Fuji, Granny Smith, Golden Dorsett, etc. (honestly can't remember the performance of others, was not interested that much to write them down, but I will this season). Most very early and very late apples are the ticket. The intermediate season types are really lousy in our area.

And so I have Monark apple added to my collections last year and hopefully will get good tasting crops too. Monark is fast ripening and early season apple, so most likely it could be low chill type. The only problem is that the blooms hasn't opened yet, and general rule of thumb is that low chill apples bloom first. But that is not true with the low chill Fuji and Pink Lady apples, they are the last ones to bloom in my yard. I can't find the chilling hours of Monark.

Honeycrisp has estimatd chilling hours requirement of 800-1000 hours.

Also, some apple afficionados in the northeast have reported excellent tasting Pink Lady even when their growing season is shorter.

Here are the Dave Wilson recommended apples for Southern California:

Southern California
(south of Santa Clarita to San Diego)

Marginal apple growing region, low chill required, 100 to 400 hours of chill OK for all but the coast. Some areas are similar to central valley (Cherry Valley, Yucaipa and Anza). Fireblight can
be a problem.

Anna (green with red blush)
Beverly Hills (fresh eating or cooking)
Dorsett Golden (golden)
Ein Shemer (yellow)
Fuji (green-yellow)
Gala (sub acid)
Gordon (green blushed red)
Granny Smith (green)
Pettingill (red over green skin)
Winter Banana (flavor suggests banana)
White Winter Pearmain (all purpose fruit)

I have grown Anna and Ein Shermer here along the Gulf Coast-- to me both are best picked green when they are still firm, if allowed to mature fully here they are soft and not that juicy.

It may be a year or 2 before I get apples since my trees are small, but I do have a Pink Lady and Fuji to compare for this environment.

I like a lot of apples when they are in their prime around Oct, but the thing I like most about Fuji is that they are good any time of year. It may be that some of what I have bought in the store during the summer is coming from South of the equator, but I have never bought a soft one.

After one week of 70's, pluck them like crazy.

Just do the plucking, it should suffice. Remember, after you plucked the turkey, pluck them apple trees.