Show me the money...

A colleague of mine in NJ just reported that he picked one (20 bushel) bin of Lindamac apples off 100 trees planted last year to a tall-spindle training system that I had sourced from Willow Drive Nursery. These were knip-boom trees, so they were decent, but the branching was a little variable and they may have been 2'nds, so I can't say they were truly great. Nice, but not great, probably equivalent to a decently feathered 1-year nursery tree. Now, some head-only math:

• 20 bushes, assuming an average count of 100 apples per bushel, equals 20 apples per tree -- more than the 5-10 recommended on 2nd leaf tall-spindle trees, but you got to hand it to McIntosh, it can be a very productive variety
• at orchard-run wholesale, 50 cents per pound, that is $400/bin. My colleague says he is selling for $300, so it is a bit of a give-away Win... :-)
• at full retail, $1.00 per pound, and 90% pack-out, that is $720/bin. Let's call it $700
• if the Lindamac were planted 3 ft. X 12 ft., that is app. 1,200 trees per acre, equals 12 bins/acre, equals wholesale value of $3,600 (might as well give then away) and retail value $8,400. At $8,400 you would have come CLOSE to paying for the trees in the 2nd leaf! Well, for 2/3 of the trees anyways...

Not bad. After the 3rd leaf, assuming everything goes well, it should be all gravy for retail apple growers planting to tall-spindle. Anyone care to refute my logic???

JC

Apple maturity report: 08/31/2009

General comments on 083109 apple maturity: I was a little taken aback by the maturity of some of the Honeycrisp -- 6 out of 9 apples were 7's on the starch iodine index, and indeed ate very well. The other 3 were 2 to 3 on the scale. (Not ripe.) These Honeycrisp were from dwarf trees and had decent red color. Certainly a first pick is warranted this week, but beware, Honeycrisp is the apple that loves to taunt, and some are going to be ready, and some less than desirable. Good red color and a loss of the green background as well as flavor should be your guide to picking. Orchard-to-orchard and block-to-block variation is the norm with Honeycrisp. One fruit exhibited significant core browing/breakdown. The Lindamac can be picked later this week and sugar (soluble solids) was good. It's not too late to put ReTain on Macs right now, and this will hold them on the tree well into late September. (7 day pre-harvest interval.) Silken could be better, so I would wait until at least late this week if not next week to pick them. This is a beatiful, yellow apple for this season and eats very well. Full report here.

UMass Video Fruit Advisor, August 27, 2009

UMass Video Fruit Advisor, August 27, 2009

Sansa, Ginger Gold, Zestar! apples

at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard

Belchertown, MA

27-August apple maturity report

General comments 08-27-09 apple harvest: all these apples are nearing the end of their harvest window, although Ginger Gold has another 7-10 days. Maturity is moving along rapidly. Cooler weather will promote color development. Keep in mind there can be significant variability within and between orchards. Taste is one of the best indicators of apple maturity. Complete report.

Apple maturity report: 08/25/2009

General comments on 08/25/2009 apple harvest: all apples harvested at UMass Cold Spring Orchard, Belchertown, MA, unless otherwise noted. Ginger Gold is ready to go and should be harvested in earnest. Quality and flavor are very good. Silken was harvested because signficant pre-harvest drop was noted. It is not as good as it could be right now, but should be harvested within the week. Lindamac is a highly red coloring McIntosh strain. It is a little early, but harvest of these could begin anytime, and should be done next week. Harvest appears to be a few days ahead of last year which was average. Complete maturity report.

08/24/2009 Apple Maturity Update

General comments on 08/24/2009 apple harvest: we are largely waiting for some cooler weather to promote color development on McIntosh, etc. Sansa is very good, Akane is mediocre at best. See: http://www.umass.edu/fruitadvisor/2009/082409applematurity.htm Observed some significant drop on heavily-cropped Silken trees. Honeycrisp are HUGE, but have no color. The Mac harvest will start next week with Marshall McIntosh if we get some cooler weather.

Apple maturity report: 08/21/2009

General comments on 08/21/2009 apple harvest: maturity does not appear to be overly advanced nor overly retarded. I am a little concerned about the condition of large, early fruit because of this heat and the potential for sunburn. You may want to consider applying Surround to Honeycrisp to prevent sunburn if the hot, sunny, weather continues. Ginger Gold is also ready for the 1st pick based on some testing I did on 19-August. JC

(P.S) I apologize for the formatting, I will work on that in the future. But you can figure it out.

Cultivar

1. date
2. pre-harvest drop
3. fruit diameter inches
4. color % red
5. firmness lbs
6. soluble solids
7. starch index
8. comments

Akane

1. 08/21/2009
2. few
3. 3.2
4. 75
5. 17
6. 14.2
7. 6.9 (5-7)
8. younger trees with a lightish crop; quality is sub-par; some water core and sunburn (internal flesh browning); some flyspeck
   

Zestar!

1. 08/21/2009
2. none
3. 3.2
4. 35
5. 14.2
6. 15.1
7. 4.5 (3-6)
8. lacking red color but otherwise excellent; fruit in very nice condition; definitely ready to go, but would like to see better color

Sansa

1. 08/21/2009
2. none
3. 3.1
4. 65
5. 14 (13-16)
6. 13.7
7. 5 (4-7)
8. a nice early apple reminiscent of Gala; ready to pick but will develop better varietal flavor with time; a touch of water core