when shall i pick my red apples? am new to this!

[angelat]

hi all,

i am not an experienced gardener at all although it is a hobby of mine. a couple of years ago a relative of mine bought me a apple tree, i have had fruit on it from the first year but this year I have a bumper crop of apples (sorry dont know which type) they are not very big but very red. im not sure wether to pick them or wait a few weeks longer. wont the cold get to them though. any advice appreciated. thanks

angela

[zazen999]

Apples are ready when they do this:

Hold one in your hand [cupped nicely] and turn it. If it comes off the tree, it's ready. If it has to be wrestled off, then it's not.

As soon as they are ready, and they usually start dropping, you can pick them.

[FB.]

You can also try lifting the apple so that the stalk, instead of hanging down, is horizontal. If it is ripe, it will come off much the same as a gentle twist.

Some varieties drop their fruit when ripe (saves having to pick them, but can bruise them which considerably shortens shelf-life), but some types hold onto the tree for weeks after ripening (more effort to pick but can be picked when you're ready).

It is often possible to improve the colour and flavour of just-picked but not-quite-ripe apples by laying them out on a garden bench in the sun and fresh air for several days after picking. Ripening indoors just doesn't get the extra sweetness and flavour that ripening outdoors can achieve.
Just take care that pests such as birds aren't attacking them. Slugs and snails will sometimes damage them if the fruits are close to ground level.

[Feral007]

Yay! I pulled a lot of apples off my trees last week - because the tree load seemed to have halved overnight! Bluddy cockatoos. They were not sweet at all! I had put them on the table on the deck (hoping the birds would not find them there as easily. And kept meaning to find out how to ripen them off the tree. I left about a third on the tree as I couldn't reach them. The birds did tho, there's only a couple left today. I might need to start covering the ones on the deck, or they won't last long either.