When to shoot late varieties of apples. When to harvest apples

How to store apples for the winter? One of the important indicators of apples, in addition to taste and presentation, is keeping quality - the ability of fruits to maintain their qualities for a certain time. What will help keep apples until spring or until the new year?

The keeping quality of apples, in addition to varietal indicators, is influenced by the following factors:

type and amount of fertilizers used in cultivation,
amount of moisture
the age of the trees from which the crop was harvested.

Too much nitrogenous fertilizer reduces the density of apple pulp, thereby reducing their shelf life. Potassium-phosphorus fertilizers in moderate doses give beautiful coloring fruits and increase their keeping quality. From a large number such fertilizers, the pulp of apples coarsens.

Too much hot weather and high humidity badly affect the subsequent preservation of apples. It is not allowed to water the trees during the ripening of apples. Experienced gardeners have noticed that the harvest from mature trees is better preserved than that taken from young trees, and the fruits harvested on sunny side crowns - better than those collected on the shaded side.

According to the ripening period, apple varieties are: summer, autumn and winter. The first ones are harvested in July-August, autumn - in August-September, winter - at the end of September and October.

3-8 months winter varieties;
1-3 months apples of autumn varieties;
15-20 days early varieties.

Home conditions

? For good preservation of apples, it is necessary to create optimal conditions storage, compliance with the rules for collecting fruits and the rules for laying apples for storage. The storage room should be dark and cool. It should have optimum temperature and humidity.

It is the maintenance of a constant temperature and humidity that distinguishes storage in industrial storage from. In no case should there be differences in these indicators.

For different varieties the optimum storage temperature varies. It is necessary to provide temperature support from 0 degrees to +5 degrees, and air humidity at the level of 85-95%. The room must be well ventilated. This is necessary in order to weather the ethylene gas emitted by apples, which accelerates the ripening of apples and reduces the shelf life.

Even before laying apples for storage, you need to take care of preparing the premises and containers. The walls need to be whitewashed, and it is desirable to treat the floor with iron sulphate. Choose a container clean, dry, without foreign odors . What is the best way to store apples? Suitable wooden or cardboard boxes, wooden containers, wooden racks.

The optimal volume of such containers is 20-25 kg. If the container is too bulky, the upper layers of fruit press on the lower ones, thereby reducing their quality.

Harvesting

There are varieties that are harvested at the beginning of ripening and varieties that are harvested after ripening. The former include: Melba, Anteya, Banana, Mantet, Belarusian raspberry, White filling. Mature harvest the following varieties: Antonovka ordinary, Boyken, Kashtelya. Fruits early varieties needs to be broken down gradually.

How to keep apples longer? Preservation of the natural wax coating is one of the important conditions for harvesting. For harvesting, you need to choose dry, not rainy days. You need to start collecting lower tier tree. Without touching the fruits themselves, they must be removed with “unscrewing” movements, keeping the stalk.

Sorting and sizing - important conditions well preserved. Each variety has its own storage characteristics, so you should put sorted fruits in different boxes. On the boxes you can stick pieces of paper with the name of the variety.

How larger fruit, the more ethylene it releases, thereby accelerating the ripening and spoilage of small fruits, so calibrated apples are also laid out in different containers according to the caliber.

Fruits should be sorted by quality. Set aside damaged, wormy, wrinkled or spoiled apples. How to store apples in winter? Cover the boxes with paper, put the sorted and calibrated apples with the stalks down to avoid scratches and damage. After harvesting and packing in a container, the fruits must be allowed to cool for 12-24 hours.

Then you can bring them into a pre-prepared room. Boxes can be placed in plastic bags. Polyethylene does not pass moisture, almost does not pass oxygen, well passes carbon dioxide thus the fruit long time do not lose weight.

Apples cannot be stored together with other fruits or vegetables.: potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. From this, apples deteriorate faster, acquire a starchy taste, and potatoes sprout from an excess of moisture.

Where is the best place to store apples? If there is no basement, the following method of storing apples will do. Put the sorted fruits into 1.5 kg plastic bags. Dig a trench or hole to a frost-free depth. Usually it is about 50 cm. Fruit bags should be put in a hole, covered with earth, put marks. Cover with branches and leaves. According to reviews, in this way the fruits are preserved very well.

In a city apartment, where there is neither a basement nor a small land plot , there is the following way. It is necessary to fill a plastic bag with apples to the middle, tie it tightly and cut a hole 10 cm in diameter in the middle of the bag. You can store it in an apartment, in a warm garage, on a balcony or in a pantry.

Folk methods

How long can apples be stored? There are many folk ways to store apples for the winter, from simple and traditional to exotic. Wrapping each fruit in oiled paper, paper towels, newspapers, storing in straw and sawdust, storing in a mixture of sand and ash - there are a great many such ways, and each of them has the right to exist. It all depends on the specific conditions and requests.

Wrap fruits for storage in newsprint not possible, as printing ink contains harmful substances. When stored in straw, apples acquire an unpleasant aftertaste.

Gardeners speak well of the quality of fruit storage in paper towels and sawdust from hardwood trees. Recently, the method of storing fruits by processing them has become widespread. various formulations: alcohol solution of propolis, glycerin, vaseline oil.

Some of these methods are completely harmless, while others are dangerous. But general rule for them that be sure to wash the fruit in warm water before use.

General characteristics of varieties

How to save an apple crop for the winter? Most the best varieties for storage - Golden Delicious, Jonathan McIntosh, Simerenko, Northern Sinap, Idared, Champion. Early apples overripe very quickly. Literally within 2-3 days. White filling, Folk, are not stored for a long time, only a few weeks, subject to optimal conditions. They need to be collected on time: in late July - early August.

Varieties of medium ripening are stored for about 2 months at zero temperature. Such varieties as Glory to the winners, Freedom, Welsey are harvested in the second half of August - early September.

Late varieties have the longest shelf life.: from 4 -7 months at a temperature of 0 +4. How to store winter apples? They need to be collected as late as possible, but not allowed to frost. Pepin, Kutuzovets, Calvil, Beforest, Pervinka, Simirenko are common winter varieties of apples.

Antonovka vulgaris is an autumn-winter variety of apples, very common in the middle lane. They love him for unpretentiousness in care, pleasant aroma, good presentation, excellent taste. Fruits are not stored for too long - no more than 3 months at a temperature close to 0 degrees and a humidity of 90% -95%.

White filling - an early variety of folk selection, widely known for its taste. The taste is sweet and sour, granular pulp, the fruits are quite juicy. Stored for a maximum of 2-3 weeks.

Jonathan is a late winter variety known for its excellent fruit flavor. Picking apples in mid-September. Well stored until April, subject to conditions.

Glory to the winners - an autumn variety bred in Ukraine with delicate juicy pulp and sweet and sour taste. Collected at the end of August. In industrial refrigerators, they are stored for 3.5-4 months, at home - a month and a half.

Handling "non-conformity"

How can garden apples and pears be stored in the winter that have not been sorted and sized? "Substandard" apples can be

Salt solution is prepared at the rate of: a teaspoon of salt per liter of water. Dry the slices, put on a baking sheet, cover with gauze from insects and dry in the sun. Turn daily.

Modern kitchen appliances for drying apples and other fruits and vegetables makes it possible to use special ones. They are very comfortable and have special programs for drying. different types fruits.

To dry apples in the oven, you need to prepare the apples and dry them at minimum temperature with a slightly ajar door. Prepare them 3-5 receptions. They are dried in a Russian oven for 16 hours. Drying apples for the winter at home- a harvesting method that involves drying in a natural way in the open air on baking sheets or on a thread.

How to properly store apples? Freeze - good way harvesting apples for the winter at home, which does not require labor costs. To do this, you need to prepare the fruit, peel, wash, cut into slices. Arrange on a board or baking sheet separately so that the pieces do not touch each other.

Transfer the frozen pieces to containers or airtight bags. Thus, they will be stored for 6-9 months. To keep them even longer, up to 12 months, they can be treated with saline before freezing.. Unripe apples are well dried and dried. From them you can make delicious jam or marmalade. Jam will acquire an unusual taste and aroma if a pinch of vanillin is added at the end of cooking.

It is obvious that it is much more pleasant to feast on fruits of one's own harvest in winter than the products of overseas manufacturers processed chemical compounds. It just takes a little effort to do this.

Harvesting is a seemingly simple matter, but some of the obvious points of the gardener can be puzzling. For example, is everyone able to answer the question of when to harvest apples of each variety. Alternatively, everyone is sure that the fruits should be plucked when they are fully ripe, and rightly so. And how to determine the day and month of harvesting a full-fledged harvest, what to focus on?

Varietal signs of maturity.

Before you start cleaning, you need to understand the process itself. For example, the time when to harvest apples of early varieties is almost unlimited, except for the understanding that overripe fruits in best case not so tasty, at worst - quickly rot. With middle and late will have to work.

Early varieties- take at least "Melba", the well-known "Papirovka" and "White pouring" plus the original "Anis", "Candy" and many other summer ones. The time of their harvesting is determined by the end of June - the beginning of August. At the same time, the entire harvest is used only for food or processing. In principle, there can be no talk about any dates when apples are harvested for long-term storage, they are not stored. Overdosing for a couple of weeks is possible, but again, only for use in the near future.

Autumn varieties- require a little more responsibility, since the question of when to put the apples in storage, to some extent, has to be decided. To some extent, because the fruits ripened with the advent of autumn are suitable for laying for the winter and for eating. If anyone knows the varieties "Glory to the winners", "Streifling", the same "Mac" and "Orlovskoye striped" - they are all just such "universal". True, in addition to versatility, autumn apples also have a drawback - a short shelf life. In the most correct storage, they do not deteriorate for 2, maximum 3 months.

Winter varieties- of the most famous are "Antonovka" and "Simirenko", the same "Jonathan" and "Aport", popular among gardeners "Winter lungwort" and "Antey". Suitable only for consumption after a certain time. They are not suitable for food at the moment, and therefore you need to know for sure when to harvest apples of late varieties. They lie well, the fruits plucked do not rot or rot a little, if the autumn is warm - until October 15, if it is cold - until a significant cooling. Cleaning day should be dry and warm, as it can be in autumn. At the same time, "Idared", "Minskoye", as well as "Zaslavskoye" and "Boyken" are allowed to shoot, even when it gets very cold, but before frost.

External signs of maturity.

It would seem that if the time when to harvest apples is already known, why do you need to know what they will look like. Not rotten, not broken - so everything is fine. As for late varieties, this approach to determining the start of harvesting is quite suitable. In any case, the fruits should lie down, and therefore they all look the same - as if unripe. Another situation is with autumn, especially with early varieties. If you want to eat not only “officially” ripe apples, but also delicious ones, it is advisable not to forget about folk ways definition of ripeness. So, when it is already possible to harvest apples, and what to look for.

The first sign of the general maturation that has begun is the presence of unspoiled carrion.

Apples of autumn and early varieties should have their own varietal coloring. That is, since ripe fruits are ready to eat right now, they should all be yellow, red, white, yellow-red, but not green at all. The exception is apples of late varieties, they are harvested, focusing only on the month and weather.

Fully ripe fruits are easily removed, and are not cut off, so that the branches break.

The seeds turned brown.

One more check. If an apple is pressed down with a finger, a noticeable dent will remain on a mature one, a peel that has stopped pushing through, a green dimple, if it appears, is very small.

In addition to all this, without pressure and determination by color, the day when to pick apples can be found in the home "laboratory". You will need a solution:

water -1 l;

iodine - 1 g;

potassium iodide -1 g.

Several cut fruits are thrown into the solution. If in a minute all the pulp turned blue, it’s too early to pick apples. If the blue appears only near the peel, it's time to harvest.

How much one or another method of determining the timing is the best, this can be verified in practice. In the garden, and almost everyone does this, the time when to pick apples is determined in a “human” way. That is, a couple of fruits were plucked, bitten, tried, further according to circumstances. It may not be entirely scientific, but as an option it is quite suitable.

Gardeners experience satisfaction and joy when contemplating the grown crop. How much work was invested to achieve the result. Experiences due to natural disasters are in the past. Here they are apples: yellow, green, red, striped. Household members have already enjoyed the fruits of the new harvest. But how to keep apples until spring?

AT harvest year housewives solve a difficult problem: how to save a rich harvest of ripe fragrant fruits with minimal losses? Already made and. The collection of autumn and winter apples. To keep fruits fresh and fragrant, certain rules must be followed.

What you need to consider to save the harvest

Step number 1: choose the right variety

The time during which the fruit remains unspoiled, or keeping quality, is determined by the variety.

Summer apples rot quickly and are not suitable for saving in winter. Autumn retain freshness 2-3 months. Usually gardeners pay attention to winter varieties stored until spring.

Top 5 most popular in Russia winter varieties apples:

Antonovka. This is not even a variety, but a variety type that includes several varieties. Described in 1848. Inhabitants middle lane appreciate Antonovka for its amazing aroma, taste, ease of care. True, the fruits are stored only 2-3 months.
Bogatyr. Ripens in September. The crop is harvested when the apple reaches full removable maturity. The fruit is well stored for 6 months, acquires an excellent taste for the New Year.
Star. The apple tree gives good yields of small (weighing up to 85 g), but very tasty sweet and sour fruits, which are successfully stored until March.
Renet Simirenko. The variety is great for southern regions RF. Very high yield. Record holder in fruit keeping quality. Juicy apples with a spicy aroma and wine-sweet taste are stored until June.
Northern Sinap. Apples ripen in October, hang on branches after leaf fall. Stored 6-7 months. Their skin becomes oily over time, which is varietal feature and not a sign of damage.

In addition to these varieties for most regions of Russia, we can also recommend:

Pepin saffron;
Renet Chernenko;
Sinap Orlovsky;
Welsey;
Veteran.

Suitable for southern latitudes:

Delicious;
Memory of Michurin;
Idared;
Migints;
Rossoshanskoe striped;
Jonathan;
Golden Delicious;
Amazing;
Korea.

For Siberia:

Krasnoyarsk sweet;
Cherished;
Phoenix Altai;
Zhivinka;
Girlfriend;
Lada;
A swan song.

These winter varieties have stood the test of time. The fruits are stored until at least February, and some (Idared, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Amazing, Korea) - until May.

Step #2: Pick apples off the tree the right way

Storing apples in winter directly depends on compliance with the harvesting technology. There are subtleties here:

for collection, choose good weather: without rain and wind;
do not squeeze or scratch the fruits so as not to damage the peel;
the stalk is important for an apple, so take the fruit in the palm of your hand and twist it along with the tail;
wear cloth gloves, this will protect matte film on the skin from damage;
handle fruits carefully so that dents do not form;
release the lower branches from the fruits first, gradually moving towards the top.

To pick apples from tall trees using various devices

Do you know that…

For harvesting, apples must reach removable maturity. Each variety has its own: initial, medium or complete. Certainly, ripeness can only be determined by the color of the seeds. The darker the color, the riper the fruit.

Step number 3: divide by grades and sizes

Here is the harvest of apples. But do not rush to remove it for long-term storage. Keep the removed fruits in a cool place for 2-3 weeks so that they prove themselves. After that, do the following:

for storage, select only intact fruits;
sort, put each variety in a separate box;
divide the fruits by size and place in different containers;
Leave apples with tails, so they last longer.

Do you know that…

Fruit should not be washed before storing long-term storage, this leads to damage to the natural wax layer and rapid deterioration.

How to pack apples

The question of when to pick apples for storage has already been clarified. The fruits are sorted. Now let's decide how to lay the grown crop. Each gardener finds for himself an acceptable way of laying.

The easy way

In this case, the fruits are not shifted by anything.

Lay the apples in a container in several layers with the stalk up.
If the stem is too long, shorten it. So it will not damage neighboring fruits.
Check the condition of the fruit often, because one rotten apple can infect the rest.

This method is simple but inefficient. To maximize shelf life, apples should be packed or layered.

Packaging paper

Shows good results a method in which each apple is wrapped in paper and laid with its tail up. Use:

newspaper;
napkins;
paper towels.

Sprinkling and overlaying

You can try storing apples for the winter by the method in which the crop is laid in layers in cardboard boxes and covered with improvised means:

dried leaves;
onion peel;
sawdust;
wood shavings;
buckwheat shelling waste;
husk.

It is important that the fruits of the container do not touch, and the material to be poured is dry, otherwise rot cannot be avoided.

Plastic bags

This method is suitable for those who have a lot of hooks for hanging:

Fill the bags with selected fruits of 2-3 kg.
Tie tightly.
Make small holes (4-5) for ventilation.
Suspended on hooks in storage.

cling film

Need to prepare cardboard box and cling film

Cover the box cling film crosswise so that the edges hang down.
Arrange the fruits in a checkerboard pattern and on the barrel so that they do not touch and are not injured from the stalk.
Top with the free ends of the film.
Lay no more than 3 layers.

Do you know that…

Experienced gardeners it is advised to use high-quality hay or straw for layering apples.

Better keeping quality

To preserve apples at home during the winter, summer residents use folk remedies. To prolong the keeping quality of fruits, you need:

dip each apple in an alcohol solution of propolis;
lubricate with glycerin, vaseline oil;
apply paraffin or wax coating.

Apply also 5% salicylic acid, calcium chloride 2% saturation.

Tip of the day

During storage, apples can be affected by rot. fungal origin, so periodically sort out the fruits and remove spoiled specimens.

Harvest storage conditions

To save the harvest, it is very important to observe the storage conditions for apples:

Keep the room temperature between -1°C and +1°C. But temperatures up to +4 ° C are not yet critical.
Humidity from 90% to 95% is considered comfortable for the fruit. Increasing this parameter will cause the fruit to rot, while decreasing it will cause the fruit to wilt.
It is important to ventilate the room, because the concentration of ethylene accelerates the ripening of fruits. And this leads to premature deterioration.

Storage room

Winter apples are best stored in the winter in the cellar or basement. It is here that the necessary temperature and humidity conditions are created.

For storage of apples in the cellar, it is prepared in advance. You need to do the following:

whitewash the walls with lime mortar or blue vitriol;
Treat floors with 1% copper sulphate.

Store fruits:

in wooden, plastic boxes;
in strong cardboard boxes;
in baskets made of wicker or synthetic material;
on the shelves.

Wash and disinfect containers and structures so that mold does not form.

To keep fruits as long as possible, use any of the above methods of stacking in a container.

Drawers should not come into contact with each other, nor with the floor, nor with the wall, so as not to impede air circulation

Tip of the day

Place stickers on the container with information about the packing date and grade. This way you will know which fruits to eat first and which ones to save for later.

Preservation of the crop in the ground

Not every gardener has a cellar, basement. They approach the question of how to store apples at home from the other side - if there is no room, the land is used:

On the suburban area a long ditch is dug, half a meter deep. The bottom is covered spruce branches for rodent protection.
Apples are packed in plastic bags, which are tightly tied with a rope, leaving a long end.
The packages are placed in the pit so that there is a space of 20 cm between them.
The ditch is covered with earth, and the ends of the ropes remain outside. Sticks or dry branches are tied to the ropes and stuck into the ground.
From above, the pit is insulated with dry leaves.

In winter, the packages are pulled out by pulling the rope.

We answer the question: Why do apples turn black inside during storage?

The enzymatic system is responsible for the longevity of the cellular tissue of the fruit. Enzymes gradually lose their activity and cease to maintain cell stability. In some varieties, the process going faster, others are slower. The cells die, the organoleptic properties of the product change. When you cut open an apple, you can see that it is dark inside. Moreover, not only the color changes, but also the smell, and consistency, and taste.

Now apples are treated with special stabilizer substances that slow down enzymatic processes, but such a product is very dangerous.

Storage of apples in the apartment

For city dwellers in autumn period the question arises of how to store apples in winter. No need to despair, without a cellar, you can also make a supply of fruit and save them with minimal losses.

Apples are stored in the apartment:

in a cool pantry;
on the glazed balcony, loggia;
in the fridge;
in the freezer.

On the balcony and loggia

If the dimensions of the balcony or loggia allow, a thermal box is installed. It is made by hand. You will need 2 boxes made of durable cardboard or plywood and insulation in the form of foam, old warm clothes, construction foam, sawdust.

Choose the size of the boxes so that there is a gap of 15 cm between their walls.
Place the styrofoam at the bottom of the large box. Place a smaller fruit box on it.
Fill the empty space between the boxes with insulation. Cover the top of the box with styrofoam.

Thermal box for storing vegetables and fruits on the balcony

Now you need to monitor the air temperature outside the window: in frosty weather, additionally cover the thermal box with something warm on top, it gets warmer - remove all unnecessary.

How to store apples on the balcony if there is no space for a box, racks:

Place the fruits in polyethylene bags half full.
Tie the bags tightly and make holes for ventilation.
Lead up to the ceiling.

This method is good if the balcony does not freeze in severe frosts.

In the pantry, corridor, on the windowsill

For this:

Use smaller packages.
Fill them with 1.5-2 kg, tie.
Make holes for gas exchange.

Store packages in the room on the windowsill, leaving the window open, or in the hallway, in the pantry.

In the fridge

At the bottom of the refrigerator are containers for vegetables and fruits, fill them with fruits without prior packaging.
Part of the fruit plastic bags place on higher shelves.

In the freezer

Keeping apples in the refrigerator is not always convenient. There is not enough space, but I want to prepare more vegetables and fruits. An alternative would be a spacious freezer.

Freeze fruit as follows:

entirely- remove the core and tail, use for baking with, in;
slices- with or without peel, for strudel, charlotte, pies, compotes, use without defrosting;
in the form of puree- a great filling for pies.

The time spent preparing frozen apple products in the autumn will pay off with benefits for the whole family.

Frozen apples retain up to 90% useful substances and don't lose palatability

We answer the question: how to store peeled apples?

Peeled and cut fruits are practically not stored, as they quickly oxidize and darken. If you can't cook them right away, you can delay the oxidation by 30 minutes by drizzling over the pieces. lemon juice or immersed in solution citric acid(1 tsp per 1 liter of water).

Knowing how to store apples for the winter, choose the best and convenient option. The information received will allow you to improve your skills and enjoy the result of your work.

Store properly and be healthy!

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A rich harvest of apples will please any gardener. But at the same time with joy, the question arises: how can all this wealth be kept fresh until spring? Which varieties are best stored, how to determine their degree of maturity, what are the ways of laying apples - read about all this in our article.

Every gardener knows that growing a crop is only half the battle, you still need to be able to and save it. Experienced gardeners have mastered the wisdom of "apple longevity" for a long time, they have been empirically developed to the maximum effective ways stacking apples for storage, allowing them to preserve their benefits, aroma and freshness.

Choice the right varieties, harvesting according to all the rules, proper sorting, stacking, optimal temperature and humidity - these are the main components of long-term storage.

Choosing the right varieties

Whether apples will be stored for a long time without deteriorating taste depends on their variety. Varieties have such a thing as keeping quality, that is, the ability to retain nutritional and nutritional properties for a certain, long enough period of time.

It is the late (winter) varieties of apples that are harvested from mid-October that are characterized by excellent keeping quality. Today, the most famous and popular are the following winter varieties:

Aurora- a variety resistant to low temperatures and fungal diseases. The fruits are large, round in shape with a blurred wide blush, they are distinguished by a pronounced aroma and juiciness. Harvest begins in early October. This variety is perfectly stored until spring, even in the refrigerator.
Jonathan- one of the most famous winter varieties. The fruits are small pleasant aroma and wine-sweet taste, under optimal storage conditions do not lose nutritional qualities until mid-May.
Golden Delicious — american variety, fruits of medium size, golden color, juicy, valued for great taste and aroma. Apples of this variety ripen by the end of September, well stored until mid-April.
snowy calvil- Ukrainian variety of folk selection. The fruits are medium in size, greenish-white. Perfectly stored in the basement, without losing taste and aroma until mid-April.
Renet Simirenko- the most common late variety of Russian breeding. The fruits are large, rounded, have a pronounced aroma and sweet and sour taste. Apples of this variety favorable conditions can be stored until the summer.
King David- American late variety, characterized by high yield. Medium-sized fruits have a flat-rounded shape, a dark red blush covers almost their entire surface. This variety of apples has a spicy aroma, juiciness and excellent taste.

It is very difficult to describe all the variety of varieties within the framework of one article. You can find out more information by consulting with experts involved in growing apples in your area.

How to properly harvest

You should carefully prepare for picking apples: pick up a tool, clean the container and storage, plan the order of work. In this case, it is very important to determine whether the apples are ripe - unripe and overripe ones will not lie.

Determining maturity

You can determine that it is time to remove apples from a branch visually, by scavenging. If tasty large apples with characteristic varietal characteristics have already appeared among the fallen fruits, then the rest are ready for picking.

You can also determine ideal maturity by the following features:

press on the apple, if the dent has disappeared - the crop is not yet ripe;
if the peel burst when pressed, the apples are considered overripe, they are not suitable for storage;
an unflattening, sagging skin speaks of ideal full maturity.

You can define maturity “scientifically”, in a special way. by chemical means. To do this, 4 grams of potassium iodide and 1 gram of iodine are dissolved in a liter of distilled water. The apple is cut in half and dipped into the solution. Maturity in this case is defined as follows:

if after two minutes the edges and the middle of the apple turned blue, it means there is a lot of starch in it, which indicates immaturity;
if it is blue at the edges, and yellow in the middle - perfect maturity;
the presence of only yellow color- the apple is overripe.

Experienced gardeners believe that it is better for apples to be unripe than to overripe and begin to rot.

Correctly picking apples from trees

A warm, clear, dry day should be chosen for harvesting winter apples. It is better to do this after dinner, when the air warms up enough, and the fruits are perfectly dry.

The fruits are picked very carefully so as not to damage. The apple is taken with all fingers, with the index finger pressing on the stalk where it is attached to fruit branch, and slightly lift the fruit up. Do not unscrew, break off or pull the apple down. In fruits intended for long-term storage, in no case should the stalk be torn off, this significantly reduces the keeping quality of the crop.

When harvesting winter apples, do not wipe off the matte film from them, the so-called natural wax coating. Picked apples should not be thrown, they must be carefully folded into a container prepared in advance.

Sorting apples

Immediately after harvesting, it should be kept in a cool room for 15-20 days, after which it should be sorted - during this time all signs will appear. possible defects. After that, it is necessary to sort out the apples, selecting for storage fruits with stalks without wormholes and mechanical damage.

Apples of different varieties are recommended to be stored in different containers, you should also sort them by size - small, medium and large. After that, the crop is stored for storage using one or more of the following methods.

Store apples

Better for apples a separate pantry or cellar. The fact is that during storage, these fruits emit a lot of ethylene - a gas that contributes to the speedy ripening of other vegetables. The increased content of ethylene in the cellar leads to the fact that root crops (potatoes, carrots, beets, celery) germinate strongly and deteriorate faster. Therefore, it is strongly not recommended to store apples with these vegetables.

Before laying apples, the room should be well cleaned and disinfected. The walls are whitewashed with a solution of freshly slaked lime and copper sulfate in the proportion: 10 liters of water, 150 g of vitriol, 1.5 kg of lime. Floors are sprayed with mortar iron sulphate(450-500 g) per 10 liters of water.

Late apples, depending on the variety and temperature and humidity indicators, can retain their nutritional value for 4-7 months. Ideal conditions for storage in this case are considered: air temperature from 0 to + 3 ... 4 degrees, relative humidity at the level of 85-90%. If the humidity is lower, the apples wilt quickly.

For winter storage any container is suitable, the main requirements for which are cleanliness and strength. It can be wicker baskets, wooden, cardboard or plastic crates which must be thoroughly cleaned before use.

You can store apples in the winter in various ways.

Easy styling

Apples are laid with their stalks up in one, two or three layers, while not shifting anything. In this way, many apples can be laid, however, this method is considered the most “short-lived”, bookmarks should be checked regularly to prevent possible pockets of decay from spreading.

Wrapping in paper

Each individual apple is wrapped in paper napkins or plain white paper and placed in a prepared container with the stalks up. If all the fruits are healthy, then in this way apples can be stored for a long time.

Overlaying (overlapping)

Most best way winter storage. best material in this case, there will be well-washed and dried sand with the addition of ash in a ratio of 1:10. Sand with ash is poured onto the bottom of the prepared container with a layer of 3-4 centimeters, then the apples are laid out so that they do not touch each other. Backfilled with sand. Thus, 3-4 layers can be laid.

Instead of sand with ash, other materials can be used: sawdust, leaves or shavings of trees (not coniferous), onion peel, sunflower husk, peat or moss.

storage in the ground

If on personal plot there is no cellar, you can save the harvest of apples in the ground. To do this, they dig a trench 50-60 cm deep and 30-40 cm wide in advance. The bottom of the trench is covered with coniferous spruce branches or juniper branches - this will protect the bookmark from rodents. Apples are packed in plastic bags of 4-5 kg each and placed on the bottom, then covered with earth from above. For protection against severe frosts dry leaves can be sprinkled on top.

Treatment with carbon dioxide or ultraviolet light

The harvest of apples is wonderfully stored in the cellar in plastic bags, into which carbon dioxide is injected through a small hole with the help of a siphon for aerating water. The hole is then quickly sealed.

Some summer residents treat apples laid in one layer with a bactericidal ultraviolet lamp for 30-40 minutes. The lamp is suspended at a distance of 1.5 meters, the apples are turned over once for uniform processing. This method allows you to destroy most of the harmful fungi and bacteria, causing development rot.

By laying the harvest of apples in storage, you can enjoy the fragrant useful fruit and be sure that your body will not suffer from chemicals that are often present in fruits sold in winter in supermarkets.

The Antonovka apple variety is zoned for the middle zone and Siberia, it combines productivity with ease of care. This is one of the most popular varieties of apples among domestic gardeners, which allows you to get good harvest. To date, several varieties of this variety are known, which differ in taste characteristics, the beginning of fruiting, yield indicators and features of agricultural technology.

History of appearance

Antonovka is different rapid growth and by three to five years reaches a height of 2-2.5 meters. The gardener can get the first fruits by the fifth or sixth year after planting, and his maximum performance The apple tree usually reaches fruiting in the tenth year of life.

Antonovka belongs to the late autumn varieties, harvesting occurs in September and early October. This is unpretentious and high yielding variety , which comes into fruiting late. About 200 kilograms can be removed from ten-year-old trees delicious apples. Until the age of twenty, the yield is stable, but later there may be pronounced seasonality.

Antonovka's advantages include the following::

Unpretentiousness in care.
Excellent yield.
Resistant to cold, disease and insect pests.
Delicate taste of the harvest.

Of the shortcomings, gardeners note only late start fruiting, and the summer resident will receive the first harvest no earlier than six to seven years after planting the seedlings. AT northern regions would need additional insulation for the winter and intensive top dressing in the spring.

The gardener needs harvest the entire crop before the first frost appears. Subsequently, the collected apples will be able to ripen directly during their storage. You can determine the full maturation of Antonovka by the appearance of a yellowish tint on the peel.

The keeping quality of Antonovka is 3-4 months. The key to long-term storage of apples will be providing fruits with appropriate conditions. It is necessary to store the harvested crop in a cold dark room with temperatures of 10-15 degrees. Humidity index - no more than 70%.

Antonovka and numerous hybrids based on this variety are distinguished by excellent productivity, unpretentious care, the harvested crop has an excellent delicate taste. Due to the ease of care for apples of this variety, they can be recommended to beginner gardeners.

By providing plantings with high-quality cross-pollination, regular watering, fertilization and other simple care, it will be possible to get a magnificent harvest on the plot.

The summer resident only needs to remember about the obligatory presence in the immediate vicinity of fruit tree other pollinating varieties, which will be the key to obtaining tasty and healthy fruits on the plot.

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