Crispin
A large green-gold dual-purpose apple, sold under both names. Vigorous and triploid — a demanding combination for a small garden.
A cultivar of Apple. Everything on this page is about the cultivar; how to grow the species is on the plant page, and how big the tree gets is on the rootstock page.
Names and origin
- Also sold as
- Mutsu
- Origin
- Japan, mid 20th century
Pollination
What this cultivar needs before it will set a crop.
- Self-fertility
- Needs a pollination partner
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partner
- A compatible partner is required
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Flowering group
- 4 on the apple scale
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination groups
Checked 2026-08-13
- Ploidy
- triploid
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- NIAB — National Institute of Agricultural Botany: Cultivar ploidy records
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partners needed
- two
What that means in practice
Triploid: two compatible partners are needed, and Crispin will pollinate neither.
This cultivar needs two other trees, not one
It is a triploid: it produces little viable pollen, so it can be pollinated but cannot pollinate. One partner will pollinate Crispin and get nothing back, so a second compatible cultivar is needed to pollinate the first. Two trees is the commonest arrangement, and it does not work.
Partners for Crispin, from the 35 apple cultivars GrowingHQ holds
Computed by the pollination engine from the flowering groups, ploidy and recorded pairings on each record — not a hand-written list. The scope is exactly what the heading says: these are the answers that exist in this catalogue, not the answers that exist.
| Cultivar | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Annie Elizabeth | one-way | Annie Elizabeth will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Annie Elizabeth is pollinated too. |
| Arthur Turner | one-way | Arthur Turner will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Arthur Turner is pollinated too. |
| Ashmead's Kernel | one-way | Ashmead's Kernel will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Ashmead's Kernel is pollinated too. |
| Bountiful | one-way | Bountiful will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Bountiful is pollinated too. |
| Braeburn | one-way | Braeburn will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Braeburn is pollinated too. |
| Charles Ross | one-way | Charles Ross will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Charles Ross is pollinated too. |
| Cox's Orange Pippin | one-way | Cox's Orange Pippin will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Cox's Orange Pippin is pollinated too. |
| Discovery | one-way | Discovery will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Discovery is pollinated too. |
| Ellison's Orange | one-way | Ellison's Orange will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Ellison's Orange is pollinated too. |
| Fiesta | one-way | Fiesta will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Fiesta is pollinated too. |
| Gala | one-way | Gala will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Gala is pollinated too. |
| Golden Delicious | one-way | Golden Delicious will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Golden Delicious is pollinated too. |
| Greensleeves | one-way | Greensleeves will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Greensleeves is pollinated too. |
| Grenadier | one-way | Grenadier will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Grenadier is pollinated too. |
| Herefordshire Russet | one-way | Herefordshire Russet will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Herefordshire Russet is pollinated too. |
| Howgate Wonder | one-way | Howgate Wonder will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Howgate Wonder is pollinated too. |
| James Grieve | one-way | James Grieve will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that James Grieve is pollinated too. |
| Katy | one-way | Katy will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Katy is pollinated too. |
| Kidd's Orange Red | one-way | Kidd's Orange Red will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Kidd's Orange Red is pollinated too. |
| Laxton's Superb | one-way | Laxton's Superb will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Laxton's Superb is pollinated too. |
| Lord Derby | one-way | Lord Derby will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Lord Derby is pollinated too. |
| Pixie | one-way | Pixie will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Pixie is pollinated too. |
| Red Falstaff | one-way | Red Falstaff will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Red Falstaff is pollinated too. |
| Scrumptious | one-way | Scrumptious will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Scrumptious is pollinated too. |
| Spartan | one-way | Spartan will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Spartan is pollinated too. |
| Sunset | one-way | Sunset will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Sunset is pollinated too. |
| Worcester Pearmain | one-way | Worcester Pearmain will pollinate Crispin, but not the other way round: Crispin is triploid and produces little viable pollen. A third, diploid cultivar is needed so that Worcester Pearmain is pollinated too. |
1 further cultivar returns no verdict, because a flowering group or an incompatibility group is not recorded on one side. The engine reports that rather than assuming a value: Newton Wonder.
The fruit
- Season
- Late
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — season
Checked 2026-08-13
- Use
- Eating and cooking
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — use
Checked 2026-08-13
- Keeping
- Keeps two to four months
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — storage
Checked 2026-08-13
The plant
- Vigour
- More vigorous than average
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
- Habit
- Spreading
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — habit
Checked 2026-08-13
- Cropping
- Crops regularly
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — cropping
Checked 2026-08-13
On each rootstock
The size of the tree comes from the rootstock. What the cultivar contributes is a direction, in words — GrowingHQ does not multiply the range by a vigour factor, because no source supports the multiplier and the resulting number would look far more precise than the inputs are.
| Rootstock | Height | With this cultivar |
|---|---|---|
| M27 | 150–180 cmSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidenceApplies when: In reasonable soil with normal pruning. On poor dry ground an M27 tree can stall well below this and never fill out.
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this rootstock's range — though a dwarfing rootstock still keeps the tree small. |
| M9 | 200–250 cmSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidenceApplies when: Varies with soil fertility and with how vigorous the grafted cultivar is.
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this rootstock's range — though a dwarfing rootstock still keeps the tree small. |
| M26 | 250–300 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this range or beyond. |
| MM106 | 350–450 cmSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidenceApplies when: Kept smaller by pruning, but this is the size it wants to reach.
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this range or beyond. |
| MM111 | 450–550 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this range or beyond. |
| M25 | 550–700 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Crispin is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this range or beyond. |
Full profiles for each of these are on the rootstock page.
Cultivar record reviewed 2026-08-13.