Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit

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MikeHardman

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Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« on: August 17, 2014, 12:59:47 PM »
My 'Anna' apple has finished fruiting now. It gave a good crop considering it was planted only last year. Most of the apples were very good - good size, firm, sweet and crisp. The leaves are still very healthy, as they have been all season. When ripening, the first fruit to show red were pecked by magpies (in between having my tomatoes), but they gave up on that, thankfully. But around the same time, some of the near-ripe fruit developed brownish patches. There was no sunkeness or swelling and no hint of damage to the skin by insects or bruising.

So it is not a big problem, but I am curious to know the cause.
The photos may be more enlightening than my description - showing the browning to be concentrated just below the surface.

Regards,
Mike
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

David Bracey

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Re: Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2014, 03:45:15 PM »
Mike looks like ' bitter pit' which a physiological disorder caused by the lack of Ca , i think.
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.

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MikeHardman

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Re: Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2014, 02:58:39 PM »
Thanks David.
Hmmm - although the damage is just below the surface (as with bitter pit), my fruits' symptoms look different on the surface - just one of two broad areas with vague edges rather than many small areas with more-distinct edges, and no sunkenness.

Superficially, it looks more like core rot, but the core of my apples was OK
(http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/images/corerot2.jpg
from http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/postharvest.htm#dryeyerot)

Brown rot also has some similarities, but no pustules ever developed (maybe because we removes the fruit and eat it; it tasted fine).

Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

David Bracey

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Re: Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2014, 04:53:13 PM »
Mike it,s the core that is the giveaway. 
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.

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MikeHardman

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Re: Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2014, 09:42:08 PM »
Davis,
I wonder if my photo is misleading. The section on the right was taken near the bottom of the fruit, and the browning was penetrating further there, especially up the axis.

Do you think it might be sunburn?
This paper include some photos which include external symptoms most similar to mine.
- http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/php/research/sunburn/
(I refer to the browning form rather than the necrotic form - to use their parlance)
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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MikeHardman

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Re: Apple 'Anna' - browning of fruit
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2016, 10:23:59 AM »
Further observation...

Earlier in the season, the magpies were keen on the fruit, waiting until they saw red, then tucking in :(
But they eventually lost interest.

My 'Anna' had a good flowering and fruiting this year.
But with the high temperatures, the sunburn remains a problem
(the ones I have inspected are OK at the core, so I don't think it is bitter pit).

Here are a couple of great-looking fruit. But the lower one has a slight browning at the base - it is starting to 'burn'. On the tree, such apples get worse in a few days and have to be discarded. I have found that it is best to pick the fruit before the first signs of burning, and keep them in the fridge. They keep longer that way. It gives you a chance to eat a heavy crop coming ripe all at once.

Mike
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England