This is my first year that my Freyberg fruited. Three apples fell off the tree and when I cut one up to eat it tasted excellent. A really unique taste with a little anise. I’m in Richmond, VA and cannot believe they are ready this early as I read that they were not ready until early October. I just sprayed them last week and I’m thinking I should let them stay on the tree a little longer. Any advice? Also, is anyone else seeing Freyberg ripe already?
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Mine were very early the first year too, I was also surprised. This year they are definitely not ripe yet, maybe they ripen later the older the tree gets.
What did you spray it with? Did you check PHI?
Sometimes, when the weather is hotter than usual esp. prolonged heat, it can hasten fruit ripening. Other times, bug damaged caused fruit to ripen or drop early.
I know this is controversial but I sprayed sevin and captan. The Spring did begin early this year but I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. The thing is that it was ripe and tasted good.
I don’t think it is controversial. You just need to check Re Entry Interval and Pre Harvest Interval to be safe.
Look like cabaryl has only 3 days pre harvest interval.
Thanks!
I really like Freyberg. I’m surprised that the Orange Pippin website dumps on it so much. Same parents as another winner, Rubinette.
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It’s very good here, too. It’s surprisingly different from Rubinette, which is a favorite.
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Agreed, after reading the Orange Pippin Europe website I lost my enthusiasm for Freyberg. I thought it was going to be average to below average. I was surprised to find out that Freyberg has such a good taste.
Freyberg ripens over a long period which can be handy. I don’t think any of mine are ripe yet though.
I agree the taste is a treat, not sure what Orange Pippin was complaining about.
The main problem for me is it is not a very friendly tree in my climate … it is an aphid magnet, and the fruits love to rot. Which reminds me, I need to go out and remove the rotters. It is maybe 10-20% that will rot. This is better than Wagener which is the only other rotter I did not remove since otherwise it is wonderful. Many many rotting varieties have been thrown in the dumpster here, perhaps a hundred of them.
Have you ever experienced what he’s described, a variety ripening a lot earlier on its first year of harvest and becoming ripe later once it matures?
Isn’t carbaryl a thinning agent? So perhaps it’s not surprising the tree dropped fruit a week later. However, that would have nothing to do with the fruit being ripe early.
There is some rot with my Freyberg but not too bad. I have sprayed them sparingly with immunox and captan though. I spray Rubinette also, and it has looked good most of the summer but now is getting some problems after it has rained like 10 inches in the last two weeks. Down here in Richmond most apples need an anti fungal. However, Magnum Bonum also is bearing for the first year and that looks bullet proof so far.
Yes, some varieties change a lot their first couple of years fruiting. I don’t remember about Freyberg in particular as it was a long time ago.
@pjadams, Rubinette is much less prone to rot for me. When it was young it was horrible on every front including rot, but as it matured it got a lot better.
That is good news. Rubinette is doing better than Freyburg in terms of rot. This rain has caused some splitting and some rot. Do you spray non organic pesticides and fungicides?
Yes, I currently use Indar and Elevate. I don’t do much rot spraying on the apples though, it gets boiling hot here in the summer and my motivation lags a bit to say the least.
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