Kerry Heafner, Michael Polozola and Kyle Peveto

Contrary to popular belief, apple trees (Malus domestica) can grow and produce fruit in Louisiana. In fact, apples have historically prospered in home orchards throughout much of the state. A century ago, Louisiana nurseries marketed a wide variety of apple trees recommended for Louisiana home orchards. Today, only a few apple varieties with comparatively low chill requirements are marketed to home growers in Louisiana. Fueled by a renaissance in old Southern varieties, the LSU AgCenter’s efforts to identify and test old Southern apple varieties are paving the way for better, tastier options for modern home orchards.

European colonists brought the first apple seeds to North America in the 1600s. By the early 20th century, there were an estimated 17,000 named apple cultivars in circulation. Today, only a few hundred of those old varieties remain available. Before railroads, an interstate trucking system and modern fruit storage allowed for a steady supply of apples from Washington, Michigan and New York to be delivered to the rest of the nation, most farms and homesteads in the southern United States, including the Deep South, kept a small fruit orchard, and apples were a popular crop. A century ago, apples were a more versatile, utilitarian crop than today. Rather than raising apples merely for fresh eating, home growers prized apples for making cider, frying, baking in pies and cakes, and drying to store for wintertime sustenance. Farmers also used them to feed horses, pigs and other livestock.

Unfortunately, trees from this era are mostly gone except for the few that have survived descendants selling off farmland and urbanization. A few old apple trees have been found in northern Louisiana. One apple tree in Union Parish is a root sprout off a tree brought to Louisiana from Alabama in the early 1900s and consistently produces beautiful red apples that ripen in July.

Cultivating apples in Louisiana demands diligence because of high maintenance needs from pest and disease pressure. Apples are mostly self-infertile, an adaptation in flowering plants to prevent inbreeding. To produce fruit, plant two varieties that flower at the same time for cross-pollination. Also, apples don’t breed true. Apple seeds will germinate and produce trees that eventually bear fruit, but the chances of the fruit being the same variety the seeds came from — much less a desirable variety — are about 1 in 10,000. To ensure pure genetics, apple trees are propagated by grafting, which involves joining a 1-year-old piece of the desired variety (the scion) to a root system (the rootstock) of another variety. Most grafted apple trees will take two to five years to produce fruit once planted.

Many of the modern commercial varieties available in grocery stores will not produce in Louisiana because they are adapted to more northern climates. To produce fruit, varieties like Honeycrisp and Cosmic Crisp require more chill hours, which are hours with a temperature below 45 F, than most areas of Louisiana get in an average winter. Chill requirements are not known for most heirloom apple varieties that commonly grew in the state 120 years ago. Nursery catalogs of the time didn’t mention chill hours, nor were they mentioned in early Louisiana State Horticulture Society meetings where apples were discussed by leading nurserymen of the day like John DeLee of East Feliciana Parish and Arthur K. Clingman of Claiborne and Caddo parishes.

So, which apples should Louisiana growers try? LSU AgCenter agents are trying to answer this question. Scion wood has been collected from old trees in Jackson, Ouachita and Union parishes and grafts have been made of these “old soldiers.” Other apples with origins in the Deep South — including Shell of Alabama, a Mississippi apple called Sam Hunt and an apple from the Houston area called Reverend Morgan — are being tested. The old Horse apple, which was likely the single most commonly grown apple throughout the South at one time, has shown to do well in northern Louisiana in previous years as has Summer Banana, an apple from South Carolina. During the late 1800s, an old Russian apple called Red Astrachan was reported as productive at the North Louisiana Experiment Station in Calhoun, which was later named the AgCenter Calhoun Research Station. Three familiar supermarket apples, Fuji, Gala and Granny Smith, all require the same number of chill hours that many areas of northern and central Louisiana may receive but have not garnered much attention in the state.

Apples still have promise in today’s Louisiana home orchard. As nursery owner John DeLee told us in 1904, variety selection, soil type, site selection and proper pruning and cultivation are all key factors. This is still true in the 21st century. Nursery owner Arthur Clingman emphasized the value of apples in 1905, stating, “I believe that apples are one of the best paying crops that can be grown — not from a commercial standpoint — but they are a valuable crop.” Historical evidence and ongoing research demonstrate that apples can thrive in Louisiana home orchards once again.

Kerry Heafner, an LSU AgCenter Extension agent focused on horticulture, is based in Ouachita Parish. Michael Polozola is the state fruit and nut specialist, and Kyle Peveto is the editor of Louisiana Agriculture.

This article appears in the spring 2025 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.

An unnamed apple in Union Parish ripens in mid-July. This tree is a root sprout from a tree brought to Louisiana from Alabama in the early 1900s. Photo by Kerry Heafner

The old Horse apple was common throughout the South at one time. Horse is a tart summer apple. Photo by Kerry Heafner