‘Ilga’

There were many apple seedlings in the orchard of breeder Pēteris Upītis, winter hardy and tolerant to diseases. Yet there was a problem. The breeder used to say that “sweet apples are loved only by morally unstable people”, and most of his selections were quite acid. As we know, the wide public still prefers sweetness, so very few apple cultivars of Upītis have gained long-time recognition. One of these is ‘Ilga’, which is a seedling of cultivar ‘Delicious’. The apples of ‘Ilga’ are sweet with slight acidity, very juicy and tasty, and store well. The variety performs best in Zemgale - Southern Latvia, where the fruits have nice red blush, while in other regions they may be pale green.