North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello,

I imagine there are a lot of environmental issues that effect your  
ripening dates.

        Weather related spring dormancy break

        Summer heat units and weather

Those are two that pop into mind.

Some variation is expected.  Imagine a beef roast.  Roast it at 350F and  
it cooks in two hours.  Roast it at 300F and it is done in three hours.   
Plants work the same way.

Later,
Tom

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 21:46:07 -0500, Jim Notkey <nottke1@earthlink.net>  
wrote:

> I find the ripening dates for my apples are different each year,  
> sometimes by 2 or 3 weeks.
> This year Red June ripened early, in late June rather than the more  
> usual July 4-10.
> But Lady Williams ripened much later than the "usual" mid-December,  
> first sweetened up, got dark seeds, and passed the uplifted stem test on  
> December 22, and I still have several hanging on the tree after about 8  
> nights below 20 degrees.
>
> Jim Nottke
> Zone 6-7
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dennis Norton
> To: North American Fruit Explorers
> Sent: 12/29/2005 7:56:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Ripening red delicious
>
>
> Late September to early October is not unusual for Red Delicious,  
> depending on the EXACT CULTIVAR.    Picking them early doesn't hurt if  
> they are stored correctly.  Our Dixie Red Delicious were our best ever  
> this year and have lasted in refrigeration through this past Monday when  
> we cleaned out our remaining inventory for the Society of St. Andrews.   
> You will want to refrigerate them at 34 degrees, not 40 though.  Don't  
> let them get above 35 because breakdown can begin at 36 degrees.
> The higher the holding temperature, the greater the softening and  
> respiration rate and the sooner the quality becomes unacceptable. Apples  
> respire and degrade twice as fast at 40 F as at 32 F. At 60 F they will  
> respire and degrade more than six times faster. The optimum storage  
> temperature for apples depends on the variety, but all are within the  
> range from 30 to 40 F. Most apple varieties are best stored at or near  
> 34 F.  Apples are moderately susceptible to freeze damage at 27 F and  
> will freeze at 25 F. Temperatures more than 1 or 2 degrees below  
> freezing should be avoided for storage.  Hope this helps.
> Dennis Norton
> Royal Oak Farm Orchard
> http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: AKManty
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 4:40 PM
> Subject: [NAFEX] Ripening red delicious
>
>
>
> Our red delicious apples, this year, are still "green" inside, though  
> don't taste too bad.  They were not picked until October, previous to a  
> strong wind storm coming in, not due to frost/freeze.  Else they could  
> have been left on longer.  We are keeping them in spare refrigerator,  
> about 40 degrees.  Any suggestions?  Is it too early for them yet?  Is  
> it just this year?
> Any help would be appreciated.



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