Apples rotting in store

[kentvegplot]

Hi guys, hope someone can help with this.

I picked all my 'James Grieve', carefully removing any with any visible damage and putting the rest in a box to be used as and when. Kept cool etc, as with my other apples.

On inspecting them, a number have rotted. I cut open a couple and the rot is starting at the core and working out. It doesn't look like brown rot, any ideas?

Or are these just not very good keepers? (the trees were here when we moved in last year so don't know much about them, or how they have been managed)

[Palustris]

James Grieve are not good keepers. Best thing to do is to puree them now and freeze the puree for use rather than trying to keep the apples.

[Flummery]

I understood that James Grieve were NOT good keepers. (It's about the only thing I know about them!) It might just be that you need to eat up this variety fIrst.

[veg4681]

I have similar problem looking after > 20 lbs of Bramley apples when you're not always able to 'eat as you go' from the tree. Try as I might, making sure all apples are good, then one goes, it starts to infect the rest...then you play catch up game That's why last year I had to make lots of chutney as freezer space is limited. My sister-in-law makes lots of apple pie and freezes them since they have a big chest freezer.

[TPeers]

Two thoughts on apple storage -

If you wrap each fruit in greeseproof paper then they dehydrate more slowly, so they late longer. Also if the fruit next door goes off the problem is confined within the wrapping so is both easier to clear and lest likely to spread.

Never wipe the fruit before storage - the bloom on the skin is vital for storage

[veg4681]

Thanks TPeers for the tips on storing apples. I'll certainly give this method a try.

[TPeers]

sorry for the typos.... one day I'll learn to speeel

[kentvegplot]

Thanks guys, I'll get on with some cooking....

[Palustris]

Another thing to try re storage. We get apple boxes with the plastic inserts from Morrisons. They keep the apples separate nicely.

[Rob G]

Just wrapping them in newspaper seems good enough and laying on the sectioned tray of a fruit box. I would have rejected grease proof paper as not allowing the fruit to breath (and being expensive for the number we store), but maybe that is not necessary.

Rob

[AndrewD]

I have a similar problem. I have 2 trees, both were in the garden when I bought the house, so I have no idea what variety they are.

The younger tree produces nice tasting apples but only crops every 2nd year. When I tried to store these, wrapped in paper, they seem to go soft and rubbery, and the skin wrinkles up.

The other is a much older tree, crops every year, but the apples have a very sharp taste, too sharp to eat. These can go brown right through, no just in storage, but sometimes whilst still on the tree. I found the best way to preserve these is to cook and freeze them. They make great apple pies.

The older tree also has strange growths on the branches, (see attached picture), can anyone tell me what it is?

[TPeers]

Looks like a crown gall to me..... but that is usually a problem on young trees.

Is/was your garden waterlogged? Would you know if a drainage system was ever put in?

Terry