Have you experienced flavor improvement of apples as trees mature?

General Fruit Growing
#1

Continuing the discussion from Prairie Spy apple taste test & comments:

I’d like to have more discussion on the subject- anybody care to comment?

Thanks,

Mark

#2

I know it’s talked about all the time with Figs but I haven’t heard it mentioned so much with other fruit. Not sure about Apples. I’d suspect that to be true to some degree for nearly all fruit. The more established the root and leaf system is for a tree the better delivery of energy to produce fruit.

#3

The apple I really noticed this on was Rubinette. It was horrible mush the first year, the next year it made these tiny rocks. I think it was the fourth year where it really started to produce good apples. It has produced great apples every year once it got going, so I don’t think its a climate thing.

For apples topworked on mature stocks I don’t notice as much change, the nutrient flow is mature and the apples respond accordingly. But younger stocks may have an unbalanced flow.

Overall I would say most varieties don’t change so much, but they all change some and a few really change a lot. Its hard to figure this out exactly as there is also a seasonal variation based on the climate. Even on mature trees the apples can vary a lot from year to year on some varieties based on the weather etc.

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#4

The explanation makes sense. I suppose it follows that the degree of development of the scion and the age at which the scion is allowed to fruit would affect fruit quality also?

#5

I agree with Scott and would add that I have often found first crop to be best- I suspect because of the high leaf to fruit ratio- a good argument for ardent thinning. Also, a lot of highly admired for flavor varieties are light croppers.

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