Apple Cultivars

Apple varieties developed at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, an agricultural and natural resources research program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), are licensed by the Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc. If your company is interested in non-exclusively licensing the TropicSweet apple cultivar, please contact Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.


TropicSweet ('Fla. 90-3') - (U.S. Patent PP9,708)
Apple Variety

Description: TropicSweet produces a medium size, sweet tasting fruit.  It has a low chilling requirement of 250 chill units adaptable to subtropical climates.  Trees are observed to be resistant to powdery mildew and fire blight.  Fruit sugar levels are typically 14 to 15 brix, but low in acidity resulting in a delicious, sweet taste even in green fruit.  Trees of TropicSweet bloom with 'Anna' apple at Gainesville but ripen in early June about a week before 'Anna.'  Fruit are firmer and taste much sweeter than 'Anna' and are noticeably lower in sourness (acidity), even when green ripe.  Fruit range 20 to 30% red overcolor and have a green ground color compared to 50% for 'Anna' and are about the same size (120 g or 6.5 cm diameter).  Fruit shape is round-conic.  Fruit are uniform in shape and size and mature in about 105 to 110 days after full bloom.  Trees produce a moderately vigorous semi-spreading tree with good crotch angles with a semi-spur-type bearing habit.  Trees of TropicSweet are not self-fruitful, but this variety is cross-pollinated with either 'Anna' or 'Dorsett Golden.'  TropicSweet is recommended for areas where 'Anna' is grown successfully (North central to central Florida has proven most reliable for 'Anna').

Where can you obtain trees of TropicSweet?

FFSP has non-exclusively licensed the following two (2) entities for the propagation of TropicSweet apple in the territory of the United States:

License Availability:  FFSP is currently seeking non-exclusive licensees for the USA and exclusive licensees for other territories not already licensed.  If your company is interested in obtaining a license, please contact FFSP.