APPLES

CHOOSING PLANTSRipen July through October

By choosing different ripening times, can have 4-month apple harvest that extends

DESSERT APPLESBest apples for eating fresh

Can be cooked or preserved, but best when fresh

PROCESSING APPLESUsually more tart

Make best pies and sauce

Firmer flesh so don’t turn to mush when cooked

STORAGE APPLESBred to remain crisp,

flavorful when stored under refrigeration or root cellar through winter

Ripen late, tough skins

Many types taste better after several months of storage

HEIRLOOM APPLESOld varieties being brought back into

production

Many have superb flavor

Drawback - seldom have disease resistance

DISEASE RESISTANCEApples naturally disease prone

New class of disease-resistant apples that are flavorful

Resistant to scab, fireblight, rust

Examples: Liberty, Freedom, Prima, Jonafree, Williams' Pride, Redfree, Dayton, Novamac, Nova Easygro, Sir Prize, Macfree

SIZE SELECTIONMost apples grafted

Desirable top grafted onto hardy rootstock

Rootstock determines size of tree

standard 20-25 feetsemi-dwarf 10-13 feetdwarf 6-8 feet

SIZE SELECTION Dwarf, semi-dwarf trees strongly

recommended for home garden

Take up less roomProvide more apples per square foot

of canopyBegin to bear earlierEasier to pickEasier to pruneEasier to spray

PLANTINGGive plenty of room to

spread without crowding

20-25 feet between semi-dwarfs

10-15 feet between dwarfs

CROSS-POLLINATIONMost need another variety planted nearby for cross-

pollination

Can be accomplished with wild apples and crabapples

To assure good crop, plant pollinator

Most resources give extensive lists of appropriate pollinators

http://www.fruit-tree.com/applepollen.html

PRUNING AND TRAININGUse central or modified

central leader method of pruning

Thin in late winter for improved air circulation

PESTS, DISEASESFor absolutely clean fruit,

necessary to use spray program with fungicide, insecticide

Attitude adjustment - accept fruits that aren’t spotless, perfect specimens

Will allow reduction of spray programs

PLUM CURCULIOOverwinter in woods and hedgerows

Emerge after petal fall, lay eggs at night when above 70 degrees

Small, crescent-shaped cuts in fruit made by females to lay eggs

Can place cloth on ground and shake tree vigorously

Weevils "play dead" and will fall onto cloth - gather and dispose of

Botanical spray

CODLING MOTHWorm in apple - usually codling moth

Overwinter as eggs under loose bark

female moths lay eggs on developing fruit

Caterpillar larvae burrow into fruit to core

Pheromone traps – monitoring

Botanical sprays effective for control

Corrugated cardboard strips around base of tree in early spring - first generation of caterpillars emerges from apples and pupate under cardboard.

Removing cardboard every couple of weeks, destroying pupal cases reduces populations

APPLE MAGGOTFly larvae burrow

leaving brown trails, unusable flesh

Traps - hang red spheres covered with Tanglefoot

Flies attracted, get stuck

One trap for every 100 apples

Leave 9-18" of open space around trap

APPLE SCABFungal spores overwinter in fallen leaves

As leaf, flower buds open, spores released into air to and on leaves and buds

Dry weather – less infection

Wet springs - severe

1. Resistant varieties

2. Clean up all debris to reduce overwintering spores

3. Sulfur sprays

FRUITWORM, LEAFROLLERCaterpillars - feed on

surface of fruit

Careful monitoring – pheromone traps

Control- Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) as soon as they emerge from egg

HARVEST, STORAGEPicked when ripe rather than letting

them ripen off the trees (exception - storage apples)

Twist apple off branch, leaving small portion of stem attached.

Don’t puncture or bruise

Freeze - peel, slice, dip in ascorbic acid or lemon juice. Bag and freeze.