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Fruit & Orchards

Ripening date for zone 6/7 Spitzenberg

15 years ago

I've googled and googled and I'm still confused. Most of info is for northern climes (maybe that's telling me something) and it's something around late October in Northport Washington, whatever the hell that means.I'm in north Georgia zone 6/7. I've already had some fall from the tree that look beautifully ripe, but when I try them I can tell that they need to age or maybe they are still not ripe enough. I'm new at actually getting apples off my trees so please give me some pointers. I have close to 250 beautiful bagged apples and I want to maximize my yield.

Herbert

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Comments (3)

milehighgirl
15 years ago
I admit I'm a newbie, but I'm doing a lot of research. I found this page just this morning:

http://gardenline.usask.ca/fruit/fallcare.html

"Apples can be picked when each seed is about half brown. Once picked, they can be stored at room temperature for a few days and then used. If you want to store your apples for a longer period, pick them when you notice the first hint of brown in the seeds. Place newly picked apples for storage in the refrigerator and reduce wilting by placing them in a perforated plastic bag."

I admit it's a Canadian site, but it sounds like good advice to me.
Scott F Smith
15 years ago
Herbert, you have 250 apples to experiment on! :-) I usually wait until a couple start dropping then I pick a few every couple days and try them out (well, I also try out the drops first; they often are ahead of the others in ripening due to bug infection which hastens ripening). Apples don't need to be completely ripened when picked, but if they are too starchy they may never ripen on the tree; too sour is usually OK. It takes experience to figure out for each variety which is the optimal time to pick based on the look. The good news is we are strongly genetically programmed to be good at it since getting them at the most nutritious point was a strong survival trait in our ancestors.

I don't view published ripening times as of much importance since ripening times vary a lot based on the site itself, they vary each year based on how hot it was etc. Take a a posted time from up north and subtract maybe 3 weeks as your first guess. In my apples list I came up with a first guess for every variety I have so I can have at least a ballpark figure. I have Spitz down as mid-late Sept for me. I had some fruit on my tree this year but then fireblight got to the roots and its history.

Scott
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dethride
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, milehighgirl, for passing the storage/seed color tip.

Scott, your right, having so many apples is going to teach me a lot about ripening. I've already learned some important ripening data with my Gala and G. Delish and I didn't want to goof up on the highly rated Spitz.

I've been growing things for years and I really took to heart your comment about our instincts about the food we grow.

I'll sample them as they look ripe and when they fall to the ground. I have picked some beautiful examples and have them in the crisper with the date on them to help me learn. Sorry about your fireblight problems. Nasty stuff.

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