Splitting Apples - Ask Extension
I have had to throw out about 40 of my yellow delicious apples this year because of splitting and a foam like texture throughout them. What causes th...
Knowledgebase
Splitting Apples #341765
Asked July 11, 2016, 2:04 PM EDT
I have had to throw out about 40 of my yellow delicious apples this year because of splitting and a foam like texture throughout them. What causes this?
Marion County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi:
The apples in the photo look as though they may have been sunburned at some point during their development, which is not uncommon. Sunburn will open up the apple to a host of other problems. If you notice that the sun-exposed side of the fruit, especially on the south and west side of the tree, is where the brown patches occur it is almost certainly sunburn. I took a photo of sunburned apple fruit just last week which I attach to show how these fruit appear on the tree. Sunburn is not that common on apples in the Willamette Valley but as you can see does periodically occur. On susceptible cultivars like yours it would be worth applying shade cloth temporarily if suddenly hot weather is expected in future growing seasons.
The apples in the photo look as though they may have been sunburned at some point during their development, which is not uncommon. Sunburn will open up the apple to a host of other problems. If you notice that the sun-exposed side of the fruit, especially on the south and west side of the tree, is where the brown patches occur it is almost certainly sunburn. I took a photo of sunburned apple fruit just last week which I attach to show how these fruit appear on the tree. Sunburn is not that common on apples in the Willamette Valley but as you can see does periodically occur. On susceptible cultivars like yours it would be worth applying shade cloth temporarily if suddenly hot weather is expected in future growing seasons.
Thank you so much!
If the apples were sun burnt, would there be the brown circular rotten spots on them? I had a few that had the brown burnt circles, which I threw in the compost. The majority of these apples grew nice and large, looked perfect when I picked them, but felt a little light/not as dense as an apple of that size should be.. The majority of the 60 or so apples I picked randomly started splitting open where I had them on the counter, and they were very styrofoam/light/chalky textured inside. They went from spotless apples to being styrofoam split open apples and quickly began to rot.
Hi:
Whether there was a brown spot would depend on the level of exposure. Definitely those with brown areas would develop a rot. If you pick apples that do not exhibit the brown spot in the expected location and these then crack after picking something else might be up, or that cultivar, 'Yellow Delicious', responds that way to excess heat during fruit development, possibly. If you have some samples that are cracking and not obviously sunburnt, it would be good to see them. Contact me directly at my email address and maybe we can have a look at those. One thing, I'll be in the Polk County office Friday, but I'll be away through the 26th after that. I want to make sure we get to the bottom of this though, so if we cannot get together this week, please drop me an email so I can contact you upon my return. Thanks!.
Whether there was a brown spot would depend on the level of exposure. Definitely those with brown areas would develop a rot. If you pick apples that do not exhibit the brown spot in the expected location and these then crack after picking something else might be up, or that cultivar, 'Yellow Delicious', responds that way to excess heat during fruit development, possibly. If you have some samples that are cracking and not obviously sunburnt, it would be good to see them. Contact me directly at my email address and maybe we can have a look at those. One thing, I'll be in the Polk County office Friday, but I'll be away through the 26th after that. I want to make sure we get to the bottom of this though, so if we cannot get together this week, please drop me an email so I can contact you upon my return. Thanks!.
