ripening of apples

Fearghna Lennon asked 16 years ago

I have a single Apple Tree “James Grieve” which I planted 3 years ago. This year there is a fair number of large fruit- We have had 2 or 3 windfalls in the past week (1st week Sept). The fruit is very firm to hard and lacks any sense of ‘sweetness’- There would appear to be no blemishes on any of the fruit and only small streaks of red.How much longer should we leave the remaining fruit on the tree before harvesting-or if picked does the ripening/sweetening continue or cease ?

1 Answers

Gerry Daly Staff answered 7 years ago
After a dull summer, the fruit is not yet ripe, too early in any case. ‘James Grieve’ has a tendency to drop some fruit. It is quite a tart variety until it ripens more. Leave them on the tree and pick only when the fruit separates with a gentle lift.

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