Fruit ripening time: January - February
 
An early season apple, with an ultra-crisp, sweet flesh. Gravenstein is very juicy and has a good balance between sweet and acid. Its distinctive flavour is a fond favourite for many Europeans. 
 
Medium size fruit, with red and green colouration and orange-yellow stripes. 
 
Vigorous growing with a tendency towards biannual cropping. 
 
Can be prone to bitter pit when excessive vigour is encouraged with high Nitrogen fertilisers or excessive Winter pruning.
 
Borderline low chill variety.
 
Uses: Superb fresh eating. Also good for baking, drying and cider. Does not store well as a fresh apple, and is best enjoyed within a couple of weeks of ripening - but don't let this deterr you, as this is a really superb flavoured apple. 
 
Tree Size: 
Dwarf: Can be kept to 1.5 m and grown in containers. Must be staked.
 
Semi-dwarf: 3 - 5 m tall, depending on shape 
 
 
Pollinators: Belle Cacheuse, Bulmer’s Norman, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Cripps Pink, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Kingston Black, Lady in the Snow, Sundowner, Sweetman, and early white flowering Crabapples especially the Manchurian Crabapple, which is a very reliable pollinator for Gravenstein. 
 
Flowering Group 1 and a TRIPLOID variety, producing no viable pollen itself and requiring pollination from 2 different pollinators.