Storing apples: how and where to keep fresh fruits at home? Apple harvesting, pear harvesting, apple storage

There is no culture more popular among gardeners than apples. Rarely in which garden these bright and juicy fruits rich in vitamins and microelements are not grown. It would seem that harvesting apples is a simple matter. But in order for the fruits to be stored longer, you need to properly harvest apples and take into account a number of features. I will tell you about them.

When to Harvest

It is customary to divide varieties of apples into three groups:

• summer varieties;
• autumn varieties;
• winter varieties.

When it comes time to harvest apples depends on the variety of apples grown in your area. In addition, and on your goals. So, the harvest of summer varieties is eaten immediately. Apple picking begins in mid-August, and their keeping quality is low, no more than a month. Autumn varieties are harvested from late August - early September, the crop can be stored for up to 4 months. True, by the end of the shelf life, the pulp of apples becomes loose. Winter varieties are the most lying. Gathered from the end of September - mid-October, they are unsuitable for food immediately from the branch. The harvest of winter varieties ripens as it is stored, it can be stored until spring.

How to determine the ripeness of apples

The specified terms are rather conditional. The ripeness of apples is affected by temperature and humidity, tree care, and the dryness of summer. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to correctly determine the ripeness of apples. I will teach you how to do it. If harvested early, the taste of apples will deteriorate. If apples are overexposed on the branches, they will become mealy in taste and the flesh will turn brown. There are several ways to determine the maturity of apples:

• Carrion. If there are large ones among the fallen apples, the harvest is ripe.
• Press down on the apple with your thumb. If the dent is gone, the apples are not ripe. If the skin has parted under your finger, you are late with the harvest. If the dent does not level out, start collecting fruits.
• Tasting. The ripened fruit is bright and even in color, without darkening on the skin. The pulp is light, sweet and sour. Bones are dark brown.
• Chemical method. Prepare a solution of water, potassium iodide and iodine. Drop the solution on a slice of an apple, watch the reaction for a couple of minutes. Iodine reacts with starch, which is abundant in unripe apples, the amount of starch decreases as it ripens. If the cut turns blue, the fruits are not ripe. A yellow cut indicates that the crop is overexposed. Blue cut edge with a yellow core - start harvesting.

On sale there are specially prepared chemical kits for testing based on the latter option.

How to harvest

Any gardener knows how to properly harvest apples. The second half of the day is suitable for this work. Wait for warm sunny weather, without precipitation. It is important to follow this rule when collecting winter varieties. Start collecting apples from the lower branches, gradually rising to the top. Reach for apples growing on the upper branches, special devices will help, for example, a hook for bending branches or special design for picking apples, similar to a net. On the south side of the tree, apples ripen two to three days faster. Pluck the apples carefully together with the stalk, try not to damage the branches of the tree. Remember that only healthy fruits are suitable for storage, without dents, damage and wormholes.

How to store the harvest

To save the apple harvest, prepare wooden boxes With ventilation holes. Treat them with a solution of potassium permanganate and dry thoroughly in the sun. Then put on the bottom clean sheets paper. Put the apples in boxes immediately after picking, without leaving them in the sun. The fruits should not be washed in order to leave the matte film intact, protecting them from decay. Leave the boxes in a cool ventilated area. Maintain the temperature to 5 degrees, do not allow freezing. Sort apples systematically and remove rotten and spoiled specimens.

I hope this article has answered all your questions about autumn collection apple harvest. Have a bountiful harvest!

Roman scientist Pliny the Elder in the III century. AD wrote: "... The blush of an apple passes to the cheeks of the person who eats it." In England, there is a saying about the healing power of these fruits: "An apple a day, and a doctor is not needed." In the first Polish encyclopedia "New Athens", published in the middle of the 18th century, the author shared with readers a recipe for longevity: "To live a long life, like Patriarch Methuselah, who died at 969, you need to eat walnuts and apples.

Value apples ch-z-2L in the human diet is very high, it is an indispensable food product. Apples serve as a prophylactic against many diseases, and also have a healing effect on the human body, stimulate work internal organs and support immunity. They contain vitamins C, B1t B2, P, E, carotene, iron, potassium, manganese, calcium, sugars and organic acids.

Apples are a natural source of pectins, which are not digested in the stomach and are excreted naturally, “along the way” absorbing accumulated toxins. This is a kind of broom, gently cleansing the gastrointestinal tract.

The apple tree is one of the most ancient fruit species introduced into culture by man more than 3-4 thousand years ago.

The apple tree is the main fruit crop, which ranks first in the total production of fruits and berries. It is distributed everywhere, in all regions of the country, regardless of their soil and climatic characteristics. The wide area of ​​culture is associated with its plasticity, the ability to adapt to different conditions cultivation, a wide variety of varieties different terms maturation, with various economically valuable features.

The best varieties, both summer and autumn and winter, have high productivity, have increased winter hardiness compared to other fruit species, and are distinguished by marketability and consumer qualities of fruits. Harvest the best varieties can be stored for a long time taste qualities and nutritional value, such fruits are suitable for fresh consumption and for different types processing - preparation of juices, mashed potatoes, jams, compotes, and are also suitable for drying and freezing for the winter.

The range of apple trees is constantly replenished with promising novelties of domestic and foreign selection - high-yielding, winter-hardy, resistant to pests and diseases. Of course, when laying a garden, each gardener chooses varieties at his own discretion, but you still need to take into account the soil and climatic features of the region - depending on them, varieties with a certain winter hardiness are selected (for example, more suitable for southern or northern regions), as well as resistance to the main fungal diseases- in regions with high humidity, immune or highly resistant to scab and powdery mildew varieties. The precocity of trees, the regularity of fruiting, crown habit and many other economic and biological indicators are very important.

In the collection and research plantations of our institution (in given time- Experimental station pomology them. L.P. Simirenko of the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Sciences) - a huge number of varieties (both domestic and foreign selection) and hybrid forms of apple trees. We are constantly studying the needs of the market, the demands of gardeners, comparing them with the characteristics of our “wards” varieties and creating new products that, in terms of their economically valuable features, are more in line with the requirements of modern agriculture.

Many specimens selected in our gardens are involved in selection. Over the past decade at the Experimental Station. L.P. Simirenko bred 11 new varieties of apple trees. They have already been included in the State Register of plant varieties suitable for distribution in Ukraine and recommended for cultivation in different soil and climatic zones.

WE OFFER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEST APPLE VARIETIES.

The pearl of our selection is Renet Simirenko. Its origin is unknown. Back in the 60-80s. In the 19th century, he was found in the Mlievsky Garden, and then propagated by Platon Fedorovich Simirenko. His son Lev Platonovich in 1880-1890 described this variety, entered it into the catalog and named it after his father - Renet Simirenko.

Variety of late winter ripening. A tree of moderate vigor, with a spreading, wide-round, rather dense crown with drooping branches.

The fruits are medium-sized and large, weight 150-200 g, round-conical, somewhat asymmetric. The main color is green or light green, sometimes with a moderate reddish blush on a small part of the surface of the fruit, on the sunny side, and clearly visible large light subcutaneous dots, which become light green or greenish yellow as the fruit ripens; with a slight oily bluish coating. The pulp is white with a greenish tint, dense, fragrant, juicy (tasting score 8.4-8.8 points). It begins fruiting on the M9 rootstock on the 2nd year after planting, and on the medium-sized rootstock - on the 3rd. Removable ripeness of fruits occurs in late September - early October, consumer - in December. Stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 months.

Advantages: precocity, high yield, drought resistance; fruits do not fall off ahead of time, maturing, long-term storage, transportable, distinguished by high taste qualities.

Disadvantages: average winter hardiness, low resistance to fungal diseases, frequency of fruiting.

It is widely used in breeding, transmits to the offspring the precocity, keeping quality of fruits.

Mlievchanka autumn- grade autumn term maturation. A tree of moderate vigour, with a compact, tall, columnar, medium dense crown and spur fruiting.

The fruits are large and very large, weight 170-225 g, one-dimensional flat-round-conical, slightly ribbed. The main color is light green, greenish-yellow when ripe, on most of the surface - an intense blurred raspberry blush, sometimes with stripes of a more intense color, with a bluish bloom, and many light gray well-marked subcutaneous dots. The skin is dense, smooth, slightly oily. The pulp is white, tender, aromatic, juicy, with an excellent sweet and sour taste (tasting score 8.4-8.6 points). Removable and consumer ripeness occurs in early September. Apples lie in storage until January.

Advantages: precociousness, high winter hardiness, high productivity without pronounced periodicity, high taste qualities of fruits.

Disadvantages: average resistance to scab and powdery mildew, tendency to premature shedding of apples.

fiery- a variety of early winter ripening. A tree of medium vigor and vigorous growth, with a rounded, at the age of full fruiting, a flat-rounded, drooping (weeping), somewhat thickened crown.

Medium-sized fruits, weight 125-160 g, one-dimensional, conical. The main color is greenish-yellow, with gray, slightly visible subcutaneous dots and a thick bluish bloom, on 2/3 of the surface of the fruit there is a blurred raspberry-red blush. The skin is thin, smooth, shiny. The pulp is yellowish white, dense, juicy, aromatic, with a pleasant sweet and sour taste (tasting score 7.8-8.3 points). Removable ripeness of fruits comes at the end of September. Stored in the refrigerator for 5-6 months.

Advantages: early maturity, high yield, winter hardiness, resistance to powdery mildew.

Disadvantages: medium susceptibility to scab, propensity for trees to be over-harvested.

Used in breeding as a carrier of precocity, regular and high yields.

Mavka- a variety of winter ripening. A tree of moderate vigor, with a compact, rounded or wide oval, medium thickened crown.

The fruits are medium-sized and large, weight 145-170 g, fairly one-dimensional, elongated-conical. The main color is yellow-green, with an orange-red blurred blush on 1 / 3-1 / 2 of the surface, against which dark red strokes and light subcutaneous braids are clearly visible. Skin of medium density, smooth, dry. The pulp is yellow with greenish veins, dense, brittle, medium-grained, very juicy, with a harmonious sweet and sour taste (tasting score 7.8-8.2 points). Removable ripeness of fruits comes at the end of September, consumer - in December. Stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 months. Transportability is high.

Advantages: early maturity, high and regular yields, high resistance to powdery mildew, medium resistance to scab, high palatability of fruits.

Disadvantages: has an average winter hardiness, is affected by bark diseases, is unstable to brown spotting.

It is used in breeding as a carrier of precocity, high regular yield.

Gorodishchenskoe- a variety of winter ripening. A tree of moderate vigor, with a flat-round, slightly thickened, somewhat drooping (hanging) crown.

The fruits are large, weight 150-180 g, one-dimensional, wide-round-conical, slightly ribbed. The main color is greenish-yellow, with an intense bright red blush over most of the fruit, with white round conspicuous subcutaneous dots. The skin is dense, oily, smooth. The pulp is greenish-white or creamy, dense, fine-grained, juicy, with an excellent wine-sweet dessert taste (tasting score 8.4-8.6 points). Removable ripeness of fruits occurs in late September - early October, consumer - in December. Store in the refrigerator until April-May. Transportability is high.

Advantages: precociousness, high winter hardiness and productivity of trees, average resistance to scab.

Disadvantages: not resistant to powdery mildew.

Anniversary MIS- a variety of winter ripening. The tree is stunted, with a compact high medium thickened crown.

The fruits are large and very large, weight 160-205 g, rather one-dimensional, round-conical, slightly flattened. The main color is yellow-green, with a moderate blurry dark pink blush on most of the fruit, inconspicuous small light subcutaneous dots and an intense bluish bloom. The skin is of medium thickness, dense, smooth, moderately oily. The pulp is yellowish-white, dense, brittle, fine-grained, juicy, aromatic, with a pleasant sweet and sour taste (tasting score 8.0-8.4 points). Removable ripeness of fruits comes at the end of September. Stored in the refrigerator for 6-7 months. Transportability is high.

Advantages: early maturity, high resistance to scab and powdery mildew, high taste and commercial qualities of fruits.

Disadvantages: average winter hardiness.

It is used in breeding as a carrier of tree compactness and precocity.

APPLE HARVESTING TERMS - TABLE

Quite this year bountiful harvest apples. But do you know how to properly collect it so that apples can be stored for a long time, while remaining tasty, juicy and fragrant? The timing of harvesting directly affects the taste and commercial qualities of the fruit. You can neither delay nor rush!

Of course, the keeping quality directly depends on the variety, but the collection conditions can also affect this indicator. This is especially important if the crop is to be sold in different time- for example, some of the fruits immediately after harvesting, and some - after a while. For long-term storage, apples are harvested on early stage ripening, when the fruits are still firm, the pulp and the main color of the skin are green, the integumentary color is not sufficiently developed, without specific signs of ripeness of the variety - blush, subcutaneous dots, bluish bloom. And in order to quickly sell apples on the market, they, on the contrary, are harvested in full ripeness, when the presentation and taste of the fruit are most fully disclosed - in the best condition for this variety.

The fruits of many varieties after harvesting are affected by functional diseases that develop during storage. For their prevention, apples of different varieties are harvested on different stages maturation, depending on the tolerance of a particular variety to certain diseases. So, varieties of apples, the fruits of which quickly overripe, are prone to browning of the pulp, are affected by Jonathan spotting - they are harvested as soon as they begin to ripen, at an early stage of removable ripeness. Varieties resistant to "sunburn", subcutaneous spotting, wilting - at a late stage.

As a result of many years of research at the Pomology Experimental Station named after. L. P. Simirenko IS NAASU established the sequence and timing of harvesting apple fruits different varieties grown in the soil and climatic conditions of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe. It has been established that each variety must be harvested at the degree of fruit ripeness that ensures their best qualities and maximum keeping quality (shelf life after picking). Research also takes into account the important indicator described above - the instability of different varieties of apple trees to functional diseases that affect the commercial quality and keeping quality of apples (see Table 1).

In industrial horticulture around the world, specialists are in great demand who develop new, more advanced methods for determining optimal timing harvesting fruit crops.

A number of commodity, organoleptic, meteorological and biochemical signs signal the onset of optimal removable ripeness. Gardeners analyze a set of indicators, such as the size of the fruit, the appearance of a cover color typical of the variety, and a good detachment of the stem.

To determine the ripeness of apple fruits, you can use one of the simplest and most technically available ways- starch iodine test. Starch, when interacting with iodine, stains fruit tissue in Blue colour. The greener the apple, the more starch it contains. As it ripens, in the process of hydrolysis, its amount decreases, and there is no more starch in fully ripe fruits.

For the starch-iodine sample, an aqueous solution of iodine is prepared (4 g of starch and 1 g of iodine per 1 liter of distilled water). The garden is divided into conditional small plots and at least 10 fruits of each variety are taken from each, collecting them from different trees and with different branches(lower and upper). An analysis is carried out immediately: each fruit, cut lengthwise with a sharp knife through the seed chamber, is immersed in an iodine solution. After a minute, the state of the slices is assessed on a scale from one to five points.

Scale of starch iodine test of ripeness of apples (in points)

Starch iodine scale

In Europe, horticultural consultants calculate the Streiff index - the optimal harvest period for apples of different varieties. This indicator is derived from the following formula:

(Streiff index) \u003d hardness (fruit (kg / cm 2) / sugar content x starch content (%)

The main parameters necessary for determining the optimal harvesting time:

• - fruit hardness, determined by penetrometer (kg / cm 2);
• - fruit sugar content, measured with a refractometer (% Brix):
• - starch content in freshly harvested fruits (reaction to iodine. The result is analyzed with the help of special test cards).

Table 1. Terms of harvesting apple fruits, taking into account their degree of ripeness and the tendency of varieties to functional diseases

APPLE STORAGE - METHODS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THEM

APPLE STORAGE

A RICH HARVEST REQUIRES CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND HARD WORK FROM GARDENERS, AND IT IS USUALLY GETTING OH HOW DIFFICULT. HOWEVER, GETTING A GOOD HARVEST IS HALF THE MATTER: YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO SAVE IT

Fruit storage depends on a number of factors:

varieties (there are varieties that are beautiful only plucked from a branch: there are those that can lie long time without losing their taste)

cultivation agrotechnics (doses and terms of fertilizer application, a complex of chemical and other protective measures against diseases and pests, harvesting terms, i.e., the state of fruit maturity);

room temperature and humidity. in which apples are stored (perhaps this factor can be called almost the most important).

Deterioration in the quality of fruits and vegetables during storage can be caused by many reasons. Among them can be both infectious diseases and physiological.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Infectious diseases of fruits that appear during storage, in some cases, are the result of infection while still in the garden, when they were hanging on a tree, in others, they occur during transportation or directly during storage.

Depending on the pathogen (or cause), some diseases develop slowly or do not progress during storage at all, while others develop very quickly within the already infected fetus and easily spread to neighboring ones (by direct contact or through the air).

NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES

1. Filling, or vitreousness of fruits, occurs in years with a warm autumn, when the fruits are overripe. The vitreous appearance of the skin and pulp appears, then its browning.
2. Freezing of fruits occurs with prolonged exposure to temperatures below -2 'C. When freezing, apples thaw gradually at a temperature of +2 'C and normal relative humidity air, after which they must be implemented as soon as possible.
3. Bitter pitting of fruits - slightly depressed, round, brown, spots with a diameter of 2-5 mm appear on the surface of the fruit. The reason is an unbalanced diet (low calcium content in fruits, excess nitrogen, high doses of potassium and magnesium).

The most common and harmful infectious diseases the period of storage of apples are as follows.

Fruit rot, or moniliosis, can develop both in the garden and during storage. The lesion begins with a small brown spot, which, growing extremely rapidly, can cover the entire fetus in a few days. The pulp becomes brownish-brown, friable, acquires a sweet-wine unpleasant taste.

On fruits infected in the garden, yellowish pads of fungal spores are formed, which are arranged in even concentric circles.

When fruits are infected during storage, sporulation on the surface of the fruit, as a rule, does not develop. The fruit quickly mummifies. The mummy of fruit rot on the surface is smooth, shiny, black with a bluish tint.

Bitter gleosporium rot, or anthracnose of apples, appears after harvesting the fruits, although they are still infected in the garden. The pulp is bitter, sharply limited from healthy tissue.

Gray rot manifests itself in the form of gray rot of fruits with the formation of a gray fluffy coating of spores on them. Over time, numerous black sclerotia (seals of the mycelium of the pathogen) form on rotten fruits. The infection can get on the fruit while still in the garden or during transportation, but the development of rot itself occurs already during storage. The spores of the fungus spread easily through the air.

Below are other entries on the topic "Cottage and garden - with your own hands"

On August 19, the Orthodox celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which is popularly called Apple Savior. On this day, apples and other fruits of the new harvest are consecrated in temples.

According to legend, until this day there is orchard apples it is forbidden. In truth, this does not make sense, because in our area, around this time, early varieties of apples ripen.

Basket - on a tree

It is necessary to harvest apples on time. Harvesting too early threatens to significantly reduce the taste of the fruit, and a delay in harvesting increases carrion, impairs the ability of apples to store and inhibits the formation of fruit buds of the future harvest.

Start with the preparation of containers and inventory. It is worth paying close attention to this, since apples are a delicate and perishable fruit, and the safety of the crop depends on where it is, freshly picked, even for the shortest time. For picking apples, baskets or buckets lined with burlap are best suited so that the fruits do not come into direct contact with a hard surface, are less upholstered and spoiled. It is also good to stock up on special wooden or metal hooks of medium diameter - they are needed to hang a basket or bucket on a thicker branch. Agree, it is more convenient and faster to harvest from a tree when the container is right under your arms and you don’t have to bend down to it - as it would be if it were standing on the ground.

You will also, of course, need a light and comfortable ladder and a fruit picker - to pick apples from the very top. In no case should you pick apples without ladders, climbing a tree. The bark of apple trees is very tender and vulnerable, and stepping on branches even without shoes can damage it, and the slightest damage to the bark threatens the tree with diseases.

Immediately prepare a container for storing apples - boxes with a capacity of about 18-25 kilograms. Before starting work, do not forget to thoroughly wash the container and inventory and dry it in the sun.

Get to work when you see that healthy, undamaged by pests and diseases, the fruits begin to fall off without the slightest breeze, or simply begin to easily separate from the twig. But at the same time, in no case do not shake the apples from the trees! This can be done only if you want to immediately eat the "ruddy and bulk" that you like. After all, it will no longer be possible to store it.

Underripe? Overripe?

So, white filling, early red, yellow arcade, early and Moscow pear, mantet, lungwort, papirovka - I, of course, have not listed all the early varieties - have already collected juice and are ready to be removed from the tree as soon as possible.

8 basic rules for picking apples

1 It should begin with the collection of carrion. It is not at all harmless, because in each of the fallen apples there may be a worm or a caterpillar that will spread through the garden and make it sick. To avoid this, the carrion should be dug up immediately.

2 Start picking apples from the lower branches, then from the middle of the crown and from the top. With this collection, fewer apples fall to the ground.

3 Apples are removed along with the stalk, which is carefully separated from the branch (without stalks, the fruit will not be stored well). The apple is clasped with fingers, pressing with the index finger on the stalk at the place of its attachment to fruit branch, and, raising it a little, separate it from the fruit. In this case, you can not pull the apple down, unscrew it or cut it off the branch. So you break off the stalk and the fruit will not soon grow in this place.

4 Work in the morning in dry weather. This rule especially applies to autumn and winter varieties - the fruits collected in such conditions are much better stored.

5 summer varieties apples intended for processing, transportation or short-term storage are harvested at the beginning of removable maturity, that is, slightly underripe.

6 Early varieties overripe in 2-3 days, and therefore it is advisable to remove them selectively, depending on the degree of ripeness. As a rule, fruits ripen faster from the south side of the trees or from the top.

7 Put only healthy and undamaged apples in the basket. Fruits with a wormhole, deformed or already fallen are collected separately.

8 Late varieties are best harvested as late as possible, but before the fruits begin to shed. The later you shoot, the better the quality will be. However, you need to have time to harvest before the onset of autumn frosts, since apples beaten by frost will not be stored.

And in the morning - in the cellar

The removed fruits are carefully laid out from baskets and buckets in boxes prepared in advance and lined with paper. Particular care is taken with the fruits early varieties. In addition, each variety must be packed in containers and stored separately, taking into account the size of the apple and its degree of maturity. Sprinkle winter varieties in compliance with the following rules: put one hand under the bottom of the basket or bucket, and support the apples with the other so that they do not spill out of the inverted container. The container turned upside down in this way is lowered to the level of the already poured fruits, the hand is removed and the apples are gently poured into the box. Do not lay them out one at a time - they are more damaged.

The fruits laid in boxes are left in the shade - to cool overnight. And early in the morning, in the cool, put the apples in the cellar - until the daytime heat has penetrated there, this will help them be stored longer. Place the boxes one on top of the other from 6 to 10 rows at a distance of 20 cm from the wall. Place slats 5-6 cm thick or bricks under the lowest one so that the fruits can be ventilated from below. And do not put apples in the cellar for the winter along with potatoes or beets - apples will lose their taste from being next to these vegetables.

Important

Apples and vegetables are well preserved if the boxes with them are placed in thick polyethylene bags. The free end of the bag with the box is then twisted and tied with twine. Polyethylene packaging well passes carbon dioxide, a little less - oxygen, and almost does not pass water vapor at all. A low oxygen, high carbon dioxide environment will help your apples retain their freshness and taste much the same as their counterparts, which are stored in special environments where the atmosphere is controlled.

Experiments have shown that if apples are stored at home in plastic packaging for five months, they will practically not lose weight.

curious

labeled apples

If your garden has apple trees that produce red fruits, you can cook original gift. Choose an apple growing on the sunny side - already large enough, but not yet reddened.

Cut out the initials of the person you are going to surprise from the foil and stick it to the apple. You can take not foil, but any paper that does not let the sun's rays through, for example black, in which photographic materials are packed.

When it's time to harvest, you pick an apple from the branch, remove the foil - the initials will be clearly visible.

canned apples

Cut the apples into slices, add granulated sugar (per 1 kg - 200 g), mix and wait until the juice starts to stand out. Put in a stainless steel saucepan, be sure to close the lid, put on fire and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. After 3-5 minutes of gentle boiling, fill pre-prepared sterilized jars, immediately roll up and turn upside down. Other fruits can be added to apples - cranberries, plums, chokeberry... But the mountain ash first, before cooking, must be scalded with boiling water to soften a little.

The time of apple ripening is the most crucial time when you cannot miss a day. This is especially true for cleaning. early ripe varieties: the slightest delay threatens with serious losses.

Rejoicing in the abundant fruiting, prepare in advance for the moment of collection:

• check the safety of inventory (baskets and devices for separating apples from branches);
• repair and test the stability of the stepladder;
• treat against pathogens and thoroughly ventilate the storage area.

Having done all this, you can calmly wait for the necessary ripeness of vitamin fruits.

Some general cleaning principles

For long-term storage, apples should be harvested following a few basic rules.

• Always pick apples only in dry weather, after waiting for the morning dew to dry.
• Planning to transport harvested crop, pre-cool it to a temperature of 8-10 ° C. So the fruits will transfer the transportation much easier.
• Harvest apples as soon as harvestable ripeness is reached. Unlike consumer ripeness, the fruit has already stopped growing at this time, but is still quite hard and contains more acids than sugar. It is during this period that the fruits are best processed, transported and cleaned for storage.
• The ripe fruit is fragrant and sweet, but if you pick it at this stage, the apple will become dry and crumbly very soon. The main difficulty in collecting early varieties is to be in time with harvesting before the onset of consumer ripeness, since it is achieved very quickly after harvesting, after about a week.
• Please note that the weather conditions of a particular season significantly affect the ripening time. The hotter and drier the weather is, the earlier the fruit ripens. But the cool summer pushes this event to a later time, so winter varieties may not ripen at all.
• Harvest is stored for storage immediately after harvesting. It is important that the temperature in the room is in the range from 0 to +4 ° C and there is a sufficiently high humidity (85–90%).

All varieties of apples are divided into three large groups: summer, autumn and winter. Each of them has its own characteristics and terms of harvest.

When to harvest summer varieties

Summer apples very quickly in comparison with their later relatives, by the end of July - beginning of August, acquire removable ripeness. Harvested at this stage, they can be stored for about a month if placed in a refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to +3 ° C. After a couple of weeks, early varieties are only suitable for immediate fresh consumption or for processing.

Time to pick autumn apples

Autumn varieties begin to ripen in early or mid-September. It is by this time that they become truly sweet, fragrant and beautiful. If you want to harvest for storage, then the fruits should be harvested without waiting for consumer ripeness - unripe, and then let them gain the necessary sweetness in storage. After 2-3 weeks, the crop will be quite usable. In addition, autumn apples picked at the stage of removable ripeness can be stored without problems for three months.

Winter apples - for patient gardeners

Winter varieties differ in that they almost never reach consumer maturity on a tree. In order for them to become tasty and juicy, the fruits must lie in storage for more than one month. The terms of their collection on average fall on the end of September, and real ripeness occurs only after 2-3 months.

However, such apples have one undoubted advantage - very long term storage. Subject to all the rules, they are able to delight with sweet and sour taste and bright aroma all winter.

How to pick apples

Their safety directly depends on how correctly you shoot, for example, melba or antonovka. This is especially important for winter apples, which will lie in storage for many months.

• If you want the harvested apples to keep well, do not water the apple tree during the fruit ripening period. For the same purposes, you should not get carried away with top dressing.
• Always choose only fine days for cleaning. Fruits harvested wet are much more likely to get sick.
• Start from the lower branches, gradually moving up. So you can harvest without injuring the fruit.
• Pick the apples on the south side of the tree first, as they always ripen earlier there. The northern branches will require your attention a couple of days later.
• Pluck the fruit very carefully, trying not to damage the delicate skin. Just carefully place them in the prepared container, in no case do not throw them away.
• Be sure to leave the stalk, as apples keep better with it.
• Never wipe apples, because this removes their protective wax coating.
• Do not store carefully picked and fallen fruits together for storage. It is generally better not to store carrion, even winter varieties, but to process it immediately.

What is needed to save the harvest

It is not difficult to enjoy the taste and aroma of summer for a long time, as well as regularly supply the body with vitamins, if you take the issue of storage responsibly and take into account a few useful rules.

• Use simple wooden boxes as containers, pre-treated with a solution of potassium permanganate and thoroughly dried in the sun.
• It's better to lay on the bottom thick paper, but you can get by with ordinary newspapers. Sometimes dry, pre-washed sand is used for this purpose.
• Harvested fruit should not be stored outdoors even for a very short time. It is necessary to remove them in storage immediately after collection.
• At high humidity air in the storage, place containers with fluffy lime in it. It will absorb all excess water from the air. In a room that is too dry, you can put buckets or boxes with wet sand. It must be periodically watered during the entire storage period as it dries.
• Very important for the right microclimate temperature regime. The air should not warm up above + 5 ° C, however, even small negative temperatures are also unacceptable.
• Late varieties can be laid out in boxes in several layers, but not too tightly, sprinkled with sawdust, onion peel, peat or other dry and bulk material. Summer and autumn apples are best placed in a low container in one layer, wrapping each fruit with a napkin or sheet of paper.
• It is necessary to regularly sort out the crop, removing diseased specimens that are a source of infection for their neighbors. The first time this should be done a couple of weeks after collection. It is during this period that all defects that you did not find during cleaning will appear. In the future, an audit can be carried out less frequently, approximately once every 3-4 weeks.
• It will be correct to store separately different varieties and instances different size, as their keeping quality is always different.

The question of the timing of harvesting apples baffles many gardeners. And not because the question is complicated, but because everything seems to be clear anyway. In fact, this is especially true for winter varieties, not everyone succeeds in picking fruits on time. Firstly, few people know by what signs the maturity of apples is determined. Secondly, the time of harvesting by day and by month is also a mystery to some. What don't many people know?

How to determine the maturity of apples

First, information for the uninitiated. Determining when to store apples makes sense only for summer and autumn varieties. This is because early and mid-early varieties can be eaten immediately, late ones only after some time. The latter, even harvested on time, are still green, they need time to ripen. The ripeness of the first two can be determined with an accuracy of several days. By what signs?

Character 1. The color of fully ripened fruits will never be green, unless this is due to selection features. Autumn apples can still be somewhat greenish in color, summer ones never, they are either yellow, or red, or almost white, or several colors at once.

Sign 2. Brown or dark brown seeds.

Sign 3. The fruits break off with a slight effort, it is not necessary to pull them so that the branch bends.

Sign 4. A carrion appeared on the ground of the color corresponding to the variety, good quality, that is, not rotten and not damaged by diseases.

Sign 5. If you press and release the apple, but the dent remains, the fruit is ripe. If it disappeared immediately, the fruit is still green, the skin is torn - overripe.

In addition to external signs, it is possible to determine a ripe fruit or not in a “laboratory” way in your kitchen. An apple is cut in half, dipped in a solution of water (1 liter) and potassium iodide with iodine (1 gram each) for a minute or two. If the flesh has turned bluish throughout its thickness, harvest early. If the blue appeared only near the skin - it's time. More on harvest time.

When to pick apples depending on the variety

This does not mean the varietal name itself, for example, Antonovka or White filling, but the seasonality of the fruit: summer apple, autumn or winter. In this regard, the questions of when to harvest apples in general and when to harvest apples for storage are two different mutually exclusive questions.

Nobody lays summer varieties for storage, because even in the most favorable conditions summer harvest apples lie for a maximum of a month, and then, if you're lucky. They are harvested in late July - early August only for consumption in the near future. The most popular of the early varieties are:
- "White filling"
- "Paper"
- "Candy"
- "Anis"
- "Grushovka Moscow"
- "Red Early"
- "Melba"

Autumn varieties are removed from the tree towards the end of summer. They are more "universal", suitable for food and for bookmarking for not very long-term storage, up to approximately 3 months. With a long content, the dense pulp becomes loose, it is more suitable for mashed potatoes. At the beginning of autumn, you can already taste apples:
- "Streifling"
- "Autumn Joy"
- "Champion"
- "Glory to the winners"
- Macintosh
- "Zhigulevskoe"
- "Orlovskoye striped"

Winter varieties for laying in storage are ideal varieties, and the question of when to pick apples for the winter is more than relevant. In this category external signs maturity do not "work". For laying in a cellar or other place, apples are removed approximately in the first half of October, but before the onset of a significant cooling and before the appearance of carrion under the trees. Of the winter varieties are well stored:
- "Antonovka"
- "Winter Lungwort"
- "Orlik"
- "Jonathan"
- Simirenko
- "Welsey"
- "Antey"
- "Aport"

In addition, winter varieties of apples are divided into 2 categories: those that are harvested a little earlier and those that are removed last. Last but not least, Minskoye, Boyken, Zaslavskoye, Belorussky Senap and Idared are removed. With regard to harvesting fruits for storage, it should be remembered that even if it is clear by day when to pick apples for the winter, one should not forget about the weather. Autumn harvesting is carried out only in dry weather. In the summer it is possible and some time after the rain.

But these are all “correct” rules. For winter varieties, they are immutable. For autumn, they are desirable, if you have experience, they can be adjusted. For summer, this is more of a recommendation, because at the beginning of the season, when something just appears in the gardens, most people taste the ripeness of the fruit. And what is the best thing, everyone decides for himself.

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