I've noticed other fruits this year in Kansas are blan that typically are not. I would see what next year brings

The last two years, I've gotten some very good Golden Russets from a PYO orchard in late October and early November. This year, I was passing through the area (more than an hour from home, in a direction I rarely go) in late September. I decided to pick a dozen or so Golden Russets, even though I figured it was a bit early. The ones I sampled right away were around 14 brix and not sweet enough. A month later, the last couple I've had have been in the 18-19 brix range and pretty good, though not as quite as good as the 20-22 brix from last fall which were almost perfect to my tastes.

So, letting them hang is good, but if you are concerned about damage (animal predation?), then picking and storing them for a few weeks is also a good option.

I should also mention that it seems to be a somewhat dry apple. I like that, but many don't.

This post was edited by bob_z6 on Mon, Oct 27, 14 at 0:24

Nothing like a hard, dry, tart apple, guess I'll wait another yer or 2 to finalize judgement. I probably don't know how to prune the tree for better production but, being a tip bearer it seems unlikely to ever be as productive as my spur bearers.

I tried one from my tree and it wasn't too hard and had a sweet almost pear like taste to it with some juice to it. My tree has lost a lot of its leaves quicker than the other apple trees, may just be the way this variety is. may need a little more time on the tree if its tart.

Mine are mostly too hard and dry up to now but I'm hoping they will get better. I have had really good ones in the past, and a few on my tree were really good this year.

For me I think I did not thin enough, the tree set a huge amount and I did a lot of thinning but should have thinned even more.

Scott

Certainly didn't under thin. As for being a C.M magnet, that's interesting because there was by far more room for my sprays to get to the fruit on the tree than the others. The other varieties had significantly less C.M. damage, go figure. Maybe C.M. targets by sight, the G.R. fruit were sure easy for me to see compared to the other varieties.

I ate two more off my tree and they were a little more pear like maybe with some nice juice, Hard not really crunchy, but a nice different kind of apple.