We post tips about picking and growing all kinds of produce, mostly about the ones that we grow here at Mackintosh Fruit Farm, which are many and varied if you've been here to pick your own produce or buy from our market. We shared this tip recently since Honeycrisp are in season now at the farm.
One of our customers asked this question on our FB page and we are sharing the answer on our website to help educate her and any other interested consumers.
Consumer Question
Here is Bill's answer: Bitter pit, the dark spots that form on the mid and lower areas of Honeycrisp apples, becomes visible as the fruit matures. When apples are harvested before they mature, bitter pit may not have fully developed, but after harvest it can continue to develop. Bitter pit is considered to be caused by a calcium deficiency but it is actually an imbalance between calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Planting into soils high in calcium, managing the crop load on trees, and grafting onto rootstocks that are efficient at moving calcium while limiting potassium and magnesium uptake, are management techniques that help reduce losses from this disorder. Picking Honeycrisp before they are mature will reduce natural sugar development and juiciness but the eating experience will still be better than most apples. One way to see if Honeycrisp were picked too early is to look at the background color, the non-red side of the fruit. If it is green the fruit is not mature, if it is white the fruit is mature. Another way to make sure the fruit is mature is to pick your own fruit off the tree. That way you can avoid fruit with spots and only harvest fruit with a white background color. All the best, Bill To read more about why our Honeycrisp apples taste so good (short answer: it's the soil), you can click here and here. As always, the best way to ensure you are getting the freshest produce is to come pick for yourself at our farm, where we grow our fruit for best picked flavor. Always. To see what we have ready to pick, you can check our website here or sign up to receive our PYO (pick your own) updates all season long here.