Talk:1766: Apple Spectrum

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Well, I did my best on explaining this one... Not really sure I got the Granny Smith part right. --Andyd273 (talk) 14:32, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Surely a desert island covered only in apple trees is not beyond all probabilities? Minimal (talk) 15:01, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

I believe his confusion on a desert island with one type of apple is because apples exhibit extreme heterozygosity meaning that any daughter apple tree will produce fruit extremely different from its parent; it would be difficult to have several plants in one area that are all the same that produce no differing offspring (at least on a deserted island...humans can intervene on actively managed orchards). Genetically, the apple does fall very far from the tree. 162.158.59.197 15:10, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

This is AMAZING. I had no idea. Apples --Jeff (talk) 15:16, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
here Jacky720 (talk) 17:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Jack, I'm a linking idiot. --Jeff (talk) 19:58, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

What exactly does "doing their own thing" mean in this context? Drewthedude64 (talk) 15:20, 30 November 2016 (UTC)Drewthedude64

I'm assuming it means it was so different, that it couldn't be categorized by a low-high line (those 1-10 scales you see everywhere) --108.162.216.82 15:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
Granny Smith apples are green while the other apples in this comic are red. Also, Granny Smith apples are more tart than sweet...these two characteristics distinguish it from many other apple breeds and is probably why he says they are doing their own thing. 162.158.59.197 15:32, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
Granny Smith apples are good all of the time (unless they're mealy). All other apples should be made into pie. Except for red delicious, which shall be cast into outer compost, where there are swine gnashing their teeth. - The Opinionated One. 162.158.69.142 16:40, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall ever explained why he doesn't like Red Delicious? Maybe not crisp enough? 162.158.69.100 15:59, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

The explanation says that "Two (apple) trees of the same variety will not pollinate each other." I am no botanist, but I'm not sure this is correct. (The linked citation seems to blur the line between apple trees and fruit trees generally.) I think they will pollinate each other, and will even produce fruit, but the resulting fruit will be 'unpredictable.' No apple tree planted from seed will produce apples like its parent (except by chance), due to the heterozygosity mentioned above. BTW, because apples will not "breed true," this also means that every store-bought apple we've ever eaten came from a cloned or grafted tree. Apples are weird. Miamiclay (talk) 16:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

You're right that it isn't correct. Apple tree's may self pollinate. See [1]

I went ahead and deleted the offending paragraph. It was unquestionably wrong as it was, even according to it's own source. ChrisPwildcat (talk) 18:06, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

That isn't entirely accurate either, though. The first line of that page says that "unlike most apple trees, self-pollinating apple trees are naturally able to set fruit by themselves". Most apple trees can't self-pollinate, and because apples of the same variety are clones of each other, they register each other's pollen as their own. Self-pollinators are the exception, not the rule. --108.162.219.98 18:16, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Odd that he would post a comic with such a glaringly obvious mistake. Red delicious apples are best apples. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar and you should not listen to that person.

Red Delicious are the Devil... tasteless, meally... evil. Apples should be crisp and clean in flavor, that's why the misnamed 'Delicious' varieties are on the bad (evil) end and crisps and most other varieties are on the good end (edible). Maybe Granny Smiths 'do their own thing' because they are good with peanut butter.108.162.246.34 20:59, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Red Delicious--Honey Crisp--Regular Apples--Granny Smith--PINK LADY! Sorry! Had to put in a plug for the greatest unknown apple on the planet! They have every great characteristic an apple can have. They're juicy, crunchy, sweet, and sour. The perfect apple!ExternalMonolog (talk) 23:37, 30 November 2016 (UTC)