Predicting Early Harvest Maturity Dates for ‘Delicious’ Apples in New York1

Abstract

Field observations in 8 growing seasons indicated that maturity dates for ‘Delicious’ apples ( Malus domestica Borkh.) could be reliably predicted 1 week in advance, by using the average firmness-total soluble solids value for a geographic region. When the average firmness-total soluble solids values were close to the maturity index line, apples matured within 1 week.