Mitchgla Gala

Mitchgla, also known as Mondial Gala, is a premium, internationally certified clonal selection of the famous New Zealand variety Gala, discovered and developed in France. The original Gala variety itself was created by crossing Golden Delicious and Kidd’s Orange Red. The Mitchgla clone was selected primarily to achieve significantly more intense, uniform, and attractive red skin coloration, which develops much earlier and is less dependent on temperature fluctuations, making it one of the most sought-after and profitable Gala clones in intensive fruit growing.

Partially self-fertile, but pollinators recommended/mandatory for commercial crop. The best and field-proven pollinators for this variety are Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Idared, and Fuji. It flowers medium-early.

The tree is low to moderately vigorous, with a recognizable, compact, upright, and well-formed canopy that is easy to train. It enters full bearing extremely early, often as early as the second year after planting. Due to its compact canopy, it is an ideal variety for super-high-density and intensive orchards with a support system. It produces regular, stable, and extremely abundant yields. Early and strong chemical and hand thinning of the fruit in early summer is essential in order to prevent fruit size reduction and the onset of alternate bearing.

In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it ripens very early, in mid-August, usually between August 10 and 20, opening the new autumn apple season on the market.

Harvesting takes place in mid-August. The fruit develops its full, attractive red color on the tree around ten days before the flesh reaches technological maturity, so care must be taken not to harvest too early, before sufficient sugar has accumulated. Harvesting is carried out selectively, in 2 to 3 passes.

Its cold storage ability is excellent for a summer variety. In standard cold storage, it can be successfully kept for up to 3 months, while in modern ULO cold storage with controlled atmosphere it retains full freshness, firmness, and crispness for 4–6 months. Due to its exceptionally firm flesh and elastic skin, it tolerates picking, mechanical sizing, packing, and long-distance transport perfectly, without any risk of crushing.

The fruit is medium-sized, with an average weight of 150–180 g, exceptionally uniform on the tree, and regularly roundish-conical in shape. The skin is thin, smooth, and glossy. The golden-yellow ground color is covered over more than 70–80% of the fruit surface with a beautiful bright red to marbled blush and stripes. The flesh is creamy-white to pale yellowish, exceptionally firm, compact, juicy, and distinctly crisp. The taste is premium and dessert-quality, distinctly sweet, with minimal acidity and a luxurious, recognizable honey aroma.

It is a moderately resistant variety. It shows excellent resistance of the wood to winter frosts. It is susceptible to apple scab on leaves and fruit, Venturia inaequalis, and to powdery mildew. Its greatest field drawback is its high susceptibility to fire blight, Erwinia amylovora, and canker, as well as to attacks by European red mite, which is why it requires regular, professional, and intensive preventive chemical protection throughout the entire growing season.

Our apple fruit trees are produced on highly compatible and certified rootstocks: M9, M9 T337, the mandatory global standard for high-density orchards of this variety, M26, for medium-density orchards, and MM106, for more vigorous trees and home gardens, with which this variety achieves an excellent graft union.