The tree is vigorous and large; it will need extra space in the orchard. A triploid, Mutsu should be grown with two diploid pollenizers for full fertility. It is somewhat susceptible to fireblight, scab, powdery mildew, and cedar-apple rust, and it will need to be thinned to maintain annual bearing. It is also highly susceptible to blister spot, but this is a cosmetic issue that will be of concern only to commercial growers. Trees may need scoring to force buds low on the trunk to form scaffold limbs. Mutsu has a comparatively low chill hours requirement (500-600 hours).

These apples are really, really big. They are our last major crop at our U-pick farm, and they have a faithful following of pickers who come every year to finish the apple season by packing as many pumpkin-sized Mutsus as they can carry into a sack or a laundry basket. It's an excellent eating apple, and it makes first-class juice, pie, and sauce. The fruit is large, oblong, and irregular. The smooth greenish-yellow skin is waxy and clear with a copper blush, and the dense flesh is crisp, juicy, and coarse-grained with a sprightly flavor. The fruit does not shrivel when stored, and it will hold its flavor through winter. Some growers report issues with bitter pit, but we have not seen this.

Mutsu was developed in 1937 as a cross between Golden Delicious and Indo. From the Aomori Research Station, Kurioshi, Japan, it was introduced to the US in 1948. In Japan, Mutsu is known as the Million Dollar Apple, and sells at very high prices. Individual fruits are often grown in paper bags on the tree, causing them to develop a crystal yellow or pinkish color, but the bagging diminishes flavor.