When do apples grow?
Right after the banana, the apple is the Germans' favorite fruit. Perhaps you too like to eat apples and have already thought about an apple tree for your own garden. With so many different varieties to choose from, you may be wondering what to consider when harvesting apples. How fast do apples actually grow and when can they be harvested?
How apples develop and how they grow
- A Apple tree is best planted in autumn. So it has enough time over the cold months to anchor itself firmly in the ground with its roots until spring.
- Even in winter you can see small buds on the branches of the apple tree. They are in hibernation and can also survive snow, ice and frost.
- The first delicate leaves grow out of the buds as early as March, something fruit farmers call the "mouse-eared stage".
- In April and May the apple tree begins to bloom. One speaks of the full bloom.
- Apples can only grow when the blossoms of the tree are in the spring insects how bees and bumblebees are pollinated.
- The fruit will emerge from the ovary of the fruit blossom over the next few weeks - but the small apples are still green, hard and inedible.
- Depending on the variety, an apple takes a different amount of time to mature. Very early apple varieties can be harvested as early as mid-July, the fruits of other apple trees only develop to full maturity in the autumn months.
Apple harvest - when and how it takes place
When is the right time to harvest apples depends on both the variety and ...
When apples can be harvested
- In Germany alone there are more than 1000 different apple varieties.
- Early or clear apples can be harvested and enjoyed from July / August. Early varieties are e.g. B. the peach-red summer apple, Helios, Discovery or James Grieve.
- Most apple varieties, however, ripen in autumn. From the end of September or At the beginning of October, the apple harvest takes place in many areas. Early varieties are e.g. B. the peach-red summer apple, Helios, Discovery or James Grieve.
- When an apple is ripe, you can tell by certain characteristics: it is clearly colored, the stones are brown and the flesh cracks when you cut through the apple.
- There are also so-called winter varieties among apples. When these taste best, it is determined when they are ready to be consumed. Although these fruits are harvested in autumn, they should be stored for a while so that they can develop their full aroma - this is called the post-ripening period. Examples of such apple varieties are z. B. Goldparmäne or the Boskop - you may know this as a popular one fruit for the pre-Christmas baked apple enjoyment.
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