MSU Fruit Team Apple Maturity Report 2005  

Grand Rapids Area Report Number 5

September 28, 2005

This program is made possible by the support of our sponsors which include:

Gerber Products                      Michigan Apple Research Committee

Project GREEEN                      Michigan Apple Shippers

Valent USA                             Michigan State Horticulture Society

MSU Extension                                Michigan Agriculture Experiment Station

Our thanks to these sponsors.

Overview

Temperatures over the last week continue to be much closer to normal for this time of year. Rainfall totals over the last weekend were variable from about an inch to nearly 3 inches in some locations – this should help with fruit size for later harvested varieties. Most growers are finished with Empire, Jonathan and Jonagold. Harvest has moved in to the non-stop mode and growers will be picking just about every day they can until the end of harvest with Golden Delicious and Cortlands being harvested right now. Some growers will get started on early Red Delicious sites this week for long-term storage.

Honeycrisp
Honeycrisp harvest is done – there are some reports of lenticel spotting and bitter pit showing up on harvested fruits.

Empire
Most Empires are off the trees. A few are left hanging for U-pick markets.

Jonagold
Samples taken early this week showed a definite movement of fruit towards the overmature range for the starch removal levels. Most have been harvested at this time – color was not as good as in years past, but flavor and firmness is excellent.

Jonathan
Firmness is still pretty good at 15 to 16 pounds pressure for samples taken September 26^th, but there has been a definite decrease from last week’s sampling. Starch removal levels continue to increase, showing most fruits to be in the overmature range. Brix levels are in the excellent range. Ethylene levels have continued to increase. Any Jonathans not harvested yet are probably in the short-term storage window.

Cortland & Red Cort
Samples taken late last week show an increase in red color to 85%.
Ethylene levels have continued to increase. Starch removal level is at 2, indicating that Cortland is just about mature.  Firmness is still excellent at about 16 pounds pressure. Brix levels are similar to earlier samples and are still excellent. Cortlands and Red Corts are ready for long-term storage, but will move to mid-term and short-term storage levels very quickly.

Golden Delicious
Firmness is still good at 16 to 17 pound pressure on average – a slight decrease from last weeks sampling. Ethylene levels are low, but continue to increase over the last week. Brix levels are in the excellent range. Starch removal levels have increased quite a bit from last week – averaging 5.5, which indicates that Goldens are nearly at the mature level. Golden Delicious are ready for long-term storage at this time and will most likely move into the mid-term storage range by late in the week.

Red Delicious
Red Delicious samples from Monday are showing an increase in ethylene levels compared to last week’s samples. Firmness is decreased a bit from last week, but still good, averaging 16 to 17 pounds pressure. Starch removal levels are increasing, showing Reds to be very much in the mature range with levels between 3 and 4. Brix % is excellent at 13%. Growers can begin to harvest Red Delicious for long-term storage on their earliest sites. The majority of reds will move into the long-term storage window by the end of the week.

Northern Spy
Samples from this week are showing Northern Spy to still be immature, but getting close to being ready for harvest. Pressure levels are still between 18 and 20 pounds. Starch removal is at 2, indicating immature fruit. Ethylene levels are variable. There are some spies being harvested as processors want them, but they won’t be ready for storage for at least a week from now.

Mutsu
Are still immature with firmness between 18 and 19 pounds; starch removal at 2; and low ethylene production.

Ida Red
Still immature with firmness between 16 and 17 pounds; starch removal at 2.5 to 3; low ethylene levels; and good to excellent brix levels.

Fugi, Winesap, Rome, Braeburn, Goldrush
Immature, but we will start adding them to our sampling.

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This report will also be posted on the web at: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/fruit/ripeapple.htm

Here, you will also find apple harvest reports from other regions around the state. 

Phil Schwallier, Amy Brown, Denise Ruwersma