How to Know When to Pick Apples

Before you pick, know your apples are ready.

If you have an apple tree in your garden, you may be wondering when you can take advantage of those delicious-looking apples. Before you fill your bucket, you need to know what the signs are that your apples are ready to pick.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• Step ladder

Instructions

1. Know the number of days from bloom to harvest. MacIntosh apples ripen in 130 to 145 days; Jonathan apples ripen in 135 to 145 days, Red Delicious in 145 to 150 days and Golden Delicious in 152 to 165 days.

2. Check the background color (not the red color of the apples). When the background color changes from a definite green to a yellowish green, the fruit is nearing maturity. As a test, pick insect-damaged fruit that is of the same color and ripeness, and cut it open and see what stage it is at.

3. Note when the first few fruits begin to fall and the stems easily separate from the branch.

4. Cut the apple open. The flesh inside the apple peel will change from a greenish color to creamy white. The seeds should be dark.

5. Taste it. When ripe, the fruit will be somewhat sweet rather than starchy.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't throw apples into your basket buy gently place them so as not to bruise them.

• Use a firmly placed ladder or step ladder to pick fruit. A picker's apron or even a cloth carpenter's apron can hold quite a few apples that you can then put in your basket on the ground.

References

• Washington State University: When to Pick Fruit