I have a Liberty apple tree that has lots of bagged apples on it (250 or so). I want to leave the bags on long enough to prevent bug infestation, but not too long so I can get them to ripen with nice color. I know the harvest window for Liberty is pretty small based on last year when I got some mealy apples when I harvested a bit late, so trying to do it right this time. I'm in NE Portland.

Thanks -
Tim

When do they normally ripen?

The past few years I think it's been around the first week of October, but I was about a week late last year, or perhaps it was the early rains that did it?

I think I heard that a week or two before harvest should be fine.
John S
PDX OR

I probably would wait another week before de-bagging.

The apple maggot fly is still flying but the numbers go down dramatically about this time of the year, reaching their peak in (as I recall) early to mid-August....now, as the season progresses, the number of flies goes down.

Also, it only takes about a week to ten days, I think, for the apples to color up....you probably already have some coloring on the apples that are within your bags already. I did and I had not noticed this before. (am wondering if the exceptionally dry days and sunny days we had in August of this year of 2012 contributed to maybe allowing more sun inside of the bleached #2 white paper sacks I used).

One last reason to not be too concerned: Liberty apples, perhaps due to a McIntosh heritage, are not only more scab resistant. In the Pacific Northwest, for some reason, they seem to be more bug resistant as well.

If I am wrong about any of this, please contact donricks@hotmail.com

Thanks! I decided to go ahead and take off the bags (I used brown). The apples have started getting color already. I plan on sampling every few days to determine peak ripeness. The few that didn't get a bag are nice, bug-free and almost fully colored. Seems early, but tasting will tell.

Tim