🍎 Jona Free Apple (Malus domestica 'Jona Free')
Zones: 3–7 | Height: 15–20 ft | Spread: 12–20 ft | Growth Rate: Moderate
Light: Full sun | Soil: Well-drained, loamy to sandy
Fruit Ripening Time: Early October
Fruit Drop Time: November to December
🏞️ Product Description:
The Jona Free Apple is a disease-resistant variety prized for its exceptional ability to hold fruit well past ripening. While the apples typically ripen in early October, this cultivar’s unique characteristic is that it hangs onto its fruit through November and December, making it an excellent late-season food source for both people and wildlife.
This long-hanging trait provides valuable nutrition during the critical late fall and early winter months, supporting whitetails, turkeys, and other game when food becomes scarce.
🦌 Late-Season Nutrition That Lasts:
Wildlife are attracted to the fresh, crisp apples that remain on the tree long after most other varieties have dropped their fruit. Jona Free’s disease resistance and long fruit retention make it a dependable choice for food plots, orchards, or habitat plantings focused on extended feeding opportunities.
🌳 Why Grow Jona Free Apple?
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Disease resistant for healthier trees and better yields
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Early October ripening with fruit hanging well into late fall and early winter
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Provides critical late-season mast for deer and upland game
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Excellent for extending the feeding window on your property
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Moderate growth and manageable size for small to medium orchards
🛠️ Planting Tips:
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Requires cross-pollination—plant with other mid- to late-season apple varieties
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Space trees 15–20 ft apart in full sun
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Prune annually to maintain tree health and airflow
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Protect young trees from deer browse with tubes
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Water regularly during dry periods, especially in the first two years
🛡️ Upgrade with a Tree Survival Kit — Includes 1-Year Tree Guarantee:
Maximize your tree’s success by adding our optional Tree Survival Kit. The kit includes deer protection, a plastic weed mat to suppress weeds and lock in moisture, and a 2-year slow-release fertilizer pack. Purchase with your tree to activate our 1-year replacement guarantee.
🌿 Summary:
The Jona Free Apple is a standout late-season apple, offering disease resistance and unmatched fruit retention well into winter. Perfect for anyone wanting to extend wildlife feeding or enjoy fresh apples longer into the season.
Disease resistant. Late-hanging fruit. Built to last.
