Checking On Apple Problems
Checking On Apple Problems. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.
This is what might be called a normal year when it comes to the apple harvest which is not a bad thing. There have been a few issues reported like "bitter pit" is showing up but according to Jim McFerson with the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission it's not what it seems.
McFERSON: I don't know that there is any bigger problem than there has been in the past. What causes a lot of the concern is that we're growing a lot more Honeycrisp variety than we have and that variety is very prone to bitter pit. Therefor it's perceived or perhaps numerically greater incidence of biter pit.
Bitter pit causes sunken dark spots on an apple and results in a bitter taste.
McFERSON: Honeycrisp brings a lot of growing problems with it and storage problems but as an industry we're learning how to deal with the apple. Because of the strong consumer demand for the product we'll continue to work hard to make it possible for growers to produce as much high quality fruit as possible. But it is a very challenging variety to grow
This has been a good year for apples in the state but McFerson says there was one issue.
McFERSON: Probably the biggest problem this year was remember that hot weather, a week or ten days of real hot weather that came a little bit sooner than expected in early September? That kind of messes up the metabolism of apples and pears and the ripening process was not as favorable as it has been in the past.
Bitter pit and lower acidity levels are usually the downside of that.
That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
