Gala apple trees

Malus domestica

Gala is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

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Picking season: Mid
Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
Flowering group: 4

Gala is one of the most popular supermarket apple varieties, and a good mid-season variety for the garden in many areas. The sweet flavour of ripe Gala apples eaten straight from the tree is quite a surprise compared to supermarket examples. Gala is also a good variety for juicing, as you might expect the flavour is rich and sweet, useful for mixing with other sharper varieties.

Gala organic apple trees for sale

1 yeartree on MM111 rootstock26.50€
Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
Sold-out

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Growing and Training

One of its unique characteristics is that Gala will produce good-quality apples across an unusually wide range of climates from cool temperate to hot. Whilst not quite a low-chill variety, its chilling requirement of about 800 hours is at the lower end of the range, which helps when growing in warmer climate zones.

However Gala appears to be susceptible to just about every problem known to affect apples - but don't let this put you off. In practice, provided you have a dry climate, it is not too difficult to grow.

History

Gala was developed by New Zealand apple enthusiast J.H. Kidd from one of his earlier successes, Kidd's Orange Red, which he crossed with Golden Delicious. Through this parentage Gala unites three of the world's most influential apple varieties, Cox's Orange Pippin, Delicious, and Golden Delicious.

Gala characteristics

Gardening skillAverage
Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
Flowering group4
Disease resistancePoor - Very susceptible to scab
Picking periodlate Augustearly Septembermid-September
Picking seasonMid
Season of use3 months or more - Flavour fades in storage but remains sweet
Food usesEating freshJuice - Gala produces a very sweet juice
USDA cold hardyZone 5 (-29C)
Summer average maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)Hot (>30C / 86F)
Chill requirementLow-chill - 500 hours
Country of originNew Zealand
Period of origin1900 - 1949
Flower colourPink - light
Fruit colourOrange / Red