'Merkur' - the sweet pleasure soon after harvest
'Merkur' is a medium-late, scab-resistant dessert variety, ripening with or shortly after 'Gala'. It yields nicely coloured, purple-red fruits. Their flavour is very good, sweet to sweet-tart, aromatic. This cultivar is especially suitable for (and popular with) hobby gardeners.
Growth
tree type ramified, habit spreading, branching good with many fruiting spurs, growth medium, diploid
Blossom
mid-season
Ripening
with or shortly after 'Gala'
Fruit size & shape
size medium, shape globose to globose-obloid, stalk medium long
Fruit colour
ground colour yellow, over colour red-purple (as solid flush with weakly defined stripes on 60-90 % of fruit surface), slight russet in the stalk cavity
Fruit quality & taste
flesh creamy, medium firm, crisp, juicy, taste sweetly aromatic, very good
Productivity
precocious, good, quite regular but some fruit thinning is recommended
Storability
in natural storage until February
Notes