Cox's apples
Dear All
I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Thanks in advance Sparky |
Cox's apples
"sparky" wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? It may be they are too warm. Alan -- Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk |
Cox's apples
sparky wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? You're doing nothing wrong. (If you can keep them cool as well as dry, they might last slightly longer) The ones in the shops are stored in special cool stores with controlled levels of CO2 to prevent ripening. They ripen batches periodically throughout the year by changing the atmosphere in the stores. Obviously the Southern hemisphere Coxes are 6 months out of synch with our anyway. I find that most Coxes from supermarkets taste very little like real Coxes, but I don't know whether its the growing conditions or the storage that makes the difference. Other apples naturally have a different eating season. http://www.btinternet.com/~treesandfruit/appl.htm -- Anton |
Cox's apples
In message , anton
writes sparky wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? You're doing nothing wrong. (If you can keep them cool as well as dry, they might last slightly longer) The ones in the shops are stored in special cool stores with controlled levels of CO2 to prevent ripening. You can store apples successfully in a fridge for some time. Put them in some plastic bags with some holes in for ventilation, and store in the bottom of the fridge. As with normal storage keep checking for mould etc. on the stored apples. And of course Bob Flowerdew recommends using old freezers (non-working) as stores for fruit etc. as they can keep the temp quite stable. -- Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds urg Suppliers and References FAQ: http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html |
Cox's apples
Just dont store them around anything else that you are trying to keep.
Apples put out a gas that speeds the ripening process, and it will effect other produce as well. That might very well contribute to your problem. I would try leaving one unwrapped so the air could get to it. After 6 weeks try it and compare it to the ones that were wrapped and compare the difference. Good luck. Dwayne "Chris French and Helen Johnson" wrote in message ... In message , anton writes sparky wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? You're doing nothing wrong. (If you can keep them cool as well as dry, they might last slightly longer) The ones in the shops are stored in special cool stores with controlled levels of CO2 to prevent ripening. You can store apples successfully in a fridge for some time. Put them in some plastic bags with some holes in for ventilation, and store in the bottom of the fridge. As with normal storage keep checking for mould etc. on the stored apples. And of course Bob Flowerdew recommends using old freezers (non-working) as stores for fruit etc. as they can keep the temp quite stable. -- Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds urg Suppliers and References FAQ: http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html |
Cox's apples
"sparky" wrote:
I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Yep. What you're doing wrong is not sousing them in fungicides, insecticides, selective herbicides and any other -icides you can think of, then failing to pick them when they're still underripe, not dipping them in synthetic-chemical-containing waxes, storing them somewhere other than a commercial cold store, then declining to force-ripen them using ethylene gas and finally keeping them in a non-temperature-and- humidity-controlled area like a fruit bowl. Hope this helps. ;-) In other words, what's happening to your apples is perfectly normal -- unlike just about everything inflicted upon them (and you, of course) by the commercial fruit growing concerns and supermarkets. Pick them slightly less than ripe, and store them somewhere as cool as possible. Otherwise, you're pretty much doing the right thing anyway. Jon -- SPAM BLOCK IN USE! Replace 'deadspam' with 'green-lines' to reply in email. Want a free solution to email spam? Try http://www.deadspam.com/ (Declaration of interest: I own/run the domain.) |
Cox's apples
"sparky" wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Thanks in advance Sparky Yes, you aren't keeping them in your large environmentally controlled cold store at 4 degrees C. -- Tumbleweed Remove my socks before replying (but no email reply necessary to newsgroups) |
Cox's apples
Dear All
I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Thanks in advance Sparky It's possible to produce your own oxygen-free/CO2 rich environment where ripening will be greatly slowed by placing the apples in an airtight container with some corn or wheat seeds that have been soaked in water for a while. The seeds start to germinate and use up the oxygen in the container which should greatly slow the ripening process. I have to admit though that I've never tried it myself. My parents always just stored apples in boxes in a cool dark place and threw out any rotting ones from time to time to ensure the whole crop wasn't lost. I hope this helps, but it probably won't, and I'm sure someone'll disagree with me, so I'll just go now. Dave. |
Cox's apples
"sparky" wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Thanks in advance Sparky As suggested by others, a plastic bag in a fridge will keep them fresh for a long time. I have a 'spare' fridge in my garage and have managed to keep some Queen Cox apples fresh for over 6 months there. Worked well year before last; last year the bags got nudged up against the cooling plate and froze, giving them the apple equivalent of frostbite and gangrene - yuk. I just pick and check the apples, then put four or five in a plastic carrier bag with the top loosely knotted. They seem to keep amazingly well. HTH Dave R |
Cox's apples
Many thanks for all the advice
Sparky "David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... "sparky" wrote in message ... Dear All I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following problem I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ? Thanks in advance Sparky As suggested by others, a plastic bag in a fridge will keep them fresh for a long time. I have a 'spare' fridge in my garage and have managed to keep some Queen Cox apples fresh for over 6 months there. Worked well year before last; last year the bags got nudged up against the cooling plate and froze, giving them the apple equivalent of frostbite and gangrene - yuk. I just pick and check the apples, then put four or five in a plastic carrier bag with the top loosely knotted. They seem to keep amazingly well. HTH Dave R |
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