Here's how to know when it's time to harvest your apples:
Color, both outside and under the skin, indicates maturity.
Apples may be yellow, red, green or a combination of these at harvest.
• When the green almost gives way to yellow, a yellow variety is mature.
• With red blush or striped apples, the area where there is no red usually changes from green to yellowish at maturity.
• In the newer red strains -- red all over long before maturity -- the change of flesh color (between skin and core) from greenish to white signifies maturity. The green of spur-type 'Red Delicious' may disappear only after several months of storage.
Ease of separation.
Unless a "stop-drop" spray has been applied, mature apples easily separate from the tree. Do not pull the apple down to pick it; rather, twist it upward with a rotating motion.
Fruit drop.
When a few sound apples drop to the ground, the apples on the tree are nearly mature.
Softness and flavor.
When an apple becomes slightly softer and tastes sweet and juicy, it is mature. Some varieties, such as 'Delicious,' become sweeter in storage.
--Oregon State University Extension Service
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