Cosmic Crisp Launch Pt 1

Cosmic Crisp Launch Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. With the arrival of autumn, the air if Washington apple country is filled with excitement for the official launch of the much-anticipated Cosmic Crisp, Washington's newest variety that's been all the buzz for the past couple of years.

Proprietary Variety Management marketing director, Kathryn Grandy says the Cosmic Crisp will start coming off the trees very soon ...

GRANDY ... "The apple will harvest in, probably, we're projecting, at this time, around October 1st. And, it's an apple that is best suited to sit for a little bit and allow the starch and sugars to get to the best levels for a good eating quality."

And, she says a lot of work has gone into the decision for the best release date ...

GRANDY ... "Our industry, you know, helped set the quality standards so that we could have the, really, the best fruit and best tasting fruit going to market."

So, Grandy says consumers won't see it in stores until later ...

GRANDY ... "The industry quality standards committee with PVM will, and WSU, will continue to look at those standards throughout this first year and, you know, it will be basically a working document and a working plan so we really believe we're going to have great quality apples going to market starting December 1st."

This first season is expected to produce nearly 500-thousand boxes of Cosmic Crisp, but should grow exponentially over the next couple of years.

Listen tomorrow for more on the Cosmic Crisp's debut.

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BL: Welcome back to another "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent's Allison Walston. And this week Allison, tell me what happens to fruit trees over the winter?

AW: To survive subfreezing temperatures, fruit trees need to have entered a true dormancy. This is triggered by daylength & cooler temps to reach full winter hardiness by Dec.

BL: What about those cold snaps around Thanksgiving?

AW: Those freezing temps can do some damage. To encourage the tree to enter dormancy faster, growers can defoliate in fall using abscisic acid. This natural plant hormone triggers plant dormancy & gets the nutrients moving out of leaves, and shutting down sap flow.

BL: What about warm spells during the winter?

AW: Warm weather in the winter, if long enough, the trees start sap flowing. Also snow cover & reflecting sunlight warm trunks & gets sap flowing, In both cases when temps drop at night, the trunks split open. Tree protectors will help to reduce trunk splitS.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.

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