I've never really picked apples before. When should I pull them off the trees? Do you just give little tugs/twists, and if it comes off that means that it is the right time (kind of like berry picking - if you have to pull too hard it means they're not ready)? thanks
Sluggo--If you lift up on the fruit, it will separate easily from the twig if fully ripe. Like you say, if you have to pull hard, it's not ready. You can eat the apples earlier, but the sweetness and nuances of flavor really increase in the final weeks on the tree. I love to keep the apples on the tree rather than harvesting them all at once, tho birds like flickers often visit to peck away at the later remaining fruit. When a lot of apples start to fall it's probably best to just pick them all and avoid the bruising from hitting the ground. Once the fall windstorms begin a lot more of the crop winds up getting damaged. Many of the older less commercially exploited varieties are not ready until well into Oct. and even November. Then there's types like the Ananas Reinette that have to store for a month or so after picking before the luscious pineapple bouquet develops. It helps to know which varieties you have so you can check if it's an earlier or later ripening type, as well as the expected storage life.
We put a heavy straw mulch under the trees (about a foot deep up to about a foot or so away from the base of the tree). The ones that fall don't get bruised, we just go and collect daily. We do pick from the tree also, just as growest recommended. Carol Ja
thanks for the info. I have 5 types, all on dwarf rootstalk: Ananas Reinette, Suntan, Hudson's Golden, Rubinette and Vanderpool (or something like that, I may have a few of the names wrong). As these trees are only in their second year, I pinched off most of the fruit in the spring in order to promote tree growth (don't know if that helps growth or not, but I thought I'd try it). As well, with the wet June I had a lot of scab on a couple of the trees (Suntan was maybe the worst) and aphids were uncontrolable even with ladybugs and insect soap (particularly with the Reinette). I've noticed that the Reinette is a very slow grower (length-wise), but even a four-inch long leader is incredibly strong and hard to train. It's a stubborn tree! How big are the Reinette apples supposed to be? I have a few, but they are quite small. Most of the leaves on this tree were stunted this year from insects. thanks
The reinette apples never got very big for me either. This might have been related to the dwarfing rootstock, tho many other semi-dwarfs have nice big fruit. I would try thinning out the fruit more than normal to see if they will size up a bit more. As I mentioned earlier, the pineapple bouquet really developed for me in storage, and the fruit will last for months if you can keep it just above freezing. I found it quite resistant to scab as is my Zuccalmaggio's Reinette. Some other varieties are not worth growing because of the ugly scabby skins. Great to hear you have this variety, where did you get it? I killed mine a few years ago, and I can't find any trace of the gal at Tsolum River that grew all these heirloom apple varieties some years back. Glen
