How to:
Pick Apples
in Autumn
Autumn is a time of plenty and if you grow apples and pears it is often one of the busiest times of the year. Most importantly fruit needs to be picked at the peak of perfection. By doing this you will ensure it stores perfectly and will last until the following spring.
How to Pick Apples
I rarely pick all my trees in one go, but choose instead to pick them over a few weeks. My reason for this is to remove the ripe apples and in turn allow the unripe ones to keep maturing. It’s quite amazing how they will fill out in quite a short space of time. There comes a point during at the start of November where they all have to be picked. If they are left any longer then the first winds of autumn will remove them from the tree. The good news is that windfalls may not be fit to eat but they are usually still good for juicing.
One of my favourite eating apples is the cultivar ‘Meridian’. This prolific apple is thinned skinned, full of flavour and, most importantly, stores really well. I have taken three pickings of Meridian already but it is now time to pick the last of the crop.
Choose a dry day to pick your apples as wet apples don’t store well, a sunny autumnal afternoon is excellent. When apples are ready to be picked, little pressure is needed to remove them from the tree. Using a forefinger behind the apple stalk to push the apple upwards and backwards will ensure a clean break. If you have to use force, or it breaks the fruiting spur and next year’s fruit buds in the process. This is a clear sign that you should delay picking the rest of the crop for a few days as they are under ripe.
Safe Storage
Once picked place your apples into a container such as a bucket very gently as apples bruise easily and a bruised apple won’t store for long periods.
Once the picking container is full transfer them individually to a storage crate. I like to use stacking vented crates, to prevent Ethylene gas from building up. Apples give off allot of ethylene in storage as the ripen and this triggers ripening of the whole batch hence the phrase “one rotten apple….”.
I quickly check over the apples as they go into the storage crates, any bruised or any suffering from codling moth or wasp damage are separated for immediate use or juicing as they won’t store. Any suffering from Brown rot are disposed of in the green waste bin. The key to good apple storage is having cool and humid conditions. A cellar, or the back of a garage, is ideal but you will need some ventilation to avoid ethylene building up.
If apples are kept too warm and in dry atmospheres they will quickly dry out and shrivel, so cool, ideally 0-2 degrees C and between 90-95% relative humidity are ideal but hard to achieve without controlled atmosphere storage. To try and obtain cooler conditions, I leave picking as long as possible into the autumn. I have found that apples picked in late October/November store better and longer than those picked in September and earlier in October.
Common Problems
Once picked the trays are stacked to the eaves of an outhouse, they don’t need wrapping up individually or placing so they don’t touch.
You will need to check them every week removing any that are not keeping. Brown Rot can be very troublesome in apple stores as it thrives in cool humid conditions.
You also need to be vigilant against rodents who will happily move into your fruit store given half the chance! An effective rodent poison or trap should do the job. Voles are particularly attracted to stored fruit and will quickly eat a tray of apples.
I’m based in Shropshire, and I’ve been a keen gardener since childhood. Throughout my career I have raised plants commercially, landscaped gardens, taught horticulture, built the odd show garden and managed public parks where I helped popularise the use of wildflowers. My passion has always remained with growing fruit and vegetables in my own garden and looking after my rare breed chickens.
I’m based in Shropshire, and I’ve been a keen gardener since childhood. Throughout my career I have raised plants commercially, landscaped gardens, taught horticulture, built the odd show garden and managed public parks where I helped popularise the use of wildflowers. My passion has always remained with growing fruit and vegetables in my own garden and looking after my rare breed chickens.
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