Corona

Corona ripens in early mid-season, producing medium to large yellow apples in early mid-season with various amounts of russet, and some fruits have “cupcake” russet. The fruit is slightly tart with a good to great fruity flavor and good breaking texture. Great flavor comes from very ripe fruit when it has strong tropical fruit flavors. The fruit has a very short storage life regardless of harvest maturity. The tree blooms late, is moderate to heavy bearing, somewhat biennial bearing, and of average vigor. The tree and fruit appear resistant to scab and summer rots and susceptible to rust and powdery mildew. Fire blight has not been observed. Corona is suited to both substitution-based organic production, conventional production, and low spray programs that manage rust and mildew.

Pros: Potentially outstanding flavor and unique appearance

Cons: Very short storage life; some fruit is deformed by russet and is juice grade.

Recommendation: Backyard growers and specialty growers who can manage the very short storage life.

Origin: Sundance was used as a parent in the breeding program to provide rust resistance in yellow apples. About 500 open-pollinated seeds were planted and most were brought to fruiting. Many had undesirable flavors, but Corona stood out for appearance and flavor. Corona was chosen as a name for the cultivar since it has rays of russet radiating around the fruit like the corona of the sun radiating plasma.