2026 Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Maturity Report - August 17

Introduction

Welcome to Penn State Extension's weekly apple maturity reports. Maturity metrics for key varieties will be tracked across the state throughout the 2026 season.

In this stressful year, with crops decimated by multiple springtime freeze events and hot, dry early summer weather, informed harvest timing recommendations are critical for fruit quality, particularly for apples in mid- to long-term storage. Balancing harvest decisions against sugar accumulation, color development, starch clearing, and firmness drop is difficult to perform in a normal year. These reports serve to provide insight and help inform management decisions.

Out of respect for our collaborators' need to squeeze out as much profit as possible from their available fruit, sampling of varieties may occur a week or more later than in previous years in order to reduce Penn State Extension's impact on their harvest. Please bear this in mind as recommendations this year may require quick action.

Adams County

Last week the FREC weather station picked up 2.3 inches of rain, most of it falling on Sunday and Monday and keeping soils wet heading into the week. As usual, consider the local forecast when making harvest decisions as rainfall can induce cracking in susceptible varieties. Some cracking has been observed in Adams County (Figure 1).

The weather pattern this week looks more manageable: expect a chance of scattered afternoon thunderstorms on several days, but no widespread or heavy rain in the forecast, with daytime highs mostly in the upper 70s to upper 80s and overnight lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. These temperatures are ideal for developing color, but don't wait on color and let the fruit slip past its ideal maturity for harvest. One interesting note from this week's and last week's data: while Honeycrisp sizes in the Adams County blocks checked increased drastically in response to the rain, Gala sizes changed very little.

High winds have occasionally accompanied afternoon squalls in Adams County. When crews are moving through the orchard for a first or final pick, it may be worthwhile to instruct them to look for trees no longer secured to upper wires. Strong winds combined with the weight of the fruit may cause smaller trunks to snap (Figure 2).

Varietal Analysis

^1. Autumn Crisp is a Golden Delicious × Monroe hybrid. Because it lacks an index in the Michigan State University (MSU) Starch Index Scale, the scale for Golden Delicious was used.

^2. RubyMac® (McIntosh) is not included in the MSU scale. The Cornell scale found in Predicting Harvest Date Windows for Apples by Blanpied and Silsby (1992) was used instead.

Gala (Buckeye®) (Figure 3, right) held steady on the outside but ripened underneath. Size was flat (157 to 160 g) and red color stayed put at about 72%, but firmness came down from 25.4 to 22.5 lb and the starch index climbed from 2.7 to 4.1. Soluble solids were essentially unchanged near 10.2 °Bx. The color has been there for a while; now the internal maturity is catching up, putting this block squarely in its picking window. Gala is already being harvested across many areas of Adams County as soon as fruit reach a starch index of 3. If your Gala is going into any amount of storage, whether medium- or long-term, it's important to pick at a starch of 3 or lower, so those blocks should be prioritized now before starch advances further. Fruit destined for short-term storage or fresh market has more flexibility and can be harvested from this week into next week.

Honeycrisp (Original Strain) (Figure 4, left) made the biggest jump of the returning varieties. Red color surged from under 6% to 47%, firmness softened from 22.0 to 17.7 lb, soluble solids rose from 11.5 to 13.2 °Bx, and starch advanced from 2.2 to 4.7. Fruit also sized up to 329 g. After sitting flat the week prior, this block moved decisively toward harvest maturity and it should be harvested this week.

Autumn Crisp (NY674) (Figure 3, left) progressed steadily. Fruit sized up considerably (221 to 288 g), red color edged up to 26%, soluble solids rose to 12.6 °Bx, and the starch index moved from 3.4 to 5.1. Firmness held near 17.4 lb. With starch now advancing, this block should be harvested this week if any of the fruit is being planned for storage, even short-term.

Honeycrisp (Royal Red®) (Figure 4, right) debuted at 307 g with strong red color at 58%, a background of 1.5, firmness of 20.1 lb, soluble solids of 12.6 °Bx, and a starch index of 3.3. Good color and sugars with firmness still holding—this block is developing nicely and is on the front edge of its window.

RubyMac® (B. Thome Mac cv.) (Figure 5) came in at 197 g with excellent red color at 79.5%, a background of 2.8, firmness of 19.7 lb, soluble solids of 11.1 °Bx, and a starch index of 2.7. The color is well ahead of the internal maturity here, starch is still low, the fruit may need a week or more before picking.

Berks County

Varietal Analysis

Gala (Figure 6) advanced this week in blush (red) and background coloration, but not as much in internal maturity. Red color jumped from 55.5% to 77% and the background greened off from 1.8 to 1.0, while soluble solids climbed from 11.3 to 12.7 °Bx and firmness eased slightly from 25.1 to 23.8 lb.

Internally the fruit is still on the early side - starch advanced only from 1.0 to 1.9, so conversion has just started. Fruit averaged 143 g at about 2.1 inches, running small this season. Color and sugars are well ahead of internal maturity here; with firmness still strong there's room to wait, and starch is the number to track. Blocks headed for medium- or long-term storage will want to come off once starch reaches 3. This block can be harvested starting next week or the week after depending on storage considerations.

Honeycrisp (Figure 7) advanced considerably compared to last week's data collection. Red color rose from 39% to 63%, the background lightened from 3.0 to 2.1, soluble solids reached a strong 14.4 °Bx, and firmness dropped from 19.5 to 17.5 lb. Starch moved from 1.0 to 3.8, the biggest jump of any variety in this block, putting the fruit right at the front edge of its harvest window. Fruit averaged 167 g at 2.4 inches, and the week-to-week swing in bulk mass reflects sampling variability more than any real change in size.

With sugars high, firmness slipping, and starch climbing fast, storage blocks should be prioritized now and checked every few days. Even though color is averaging only around 60%, fruit destined for medium- or long-term storage should be harvested now rather than held for more color. Blocks going to short-term sale can wait until next week. At a minimum, this fruit is more than ready for a first pick.

Historical Data

The tables below contain the data collected in previous weeks of this year's reporting cycle. It is provided to provide information to growers who may be in regions where these varieties are still developing and to serve as a historical record of the 2026 growing season. Please review the previous weeks' reports for information on harvesting.

Adams County

Berks County

(Note: An error was uncovered in reporting the mean mass for fruit from Berks County for the reports on August 3^rd and 10^th. While the previous reports will have the data amended, the production recommendations have not been edited to reflect the correction. Penn State regrets this data error, and it was deemed inadvisable to change the recommendations after the fact for varieties most orchards have already harvested to avoid confusion.)

None of the Berks varieties sampled have been harvested. Historical data will appear here when varieties cycle out of the weekly sampling and reporting.

Acknowledgements

Starch index values were determined by referencing the Starch Index Scale publication by Dr. Randy Beaudry and the MSU Apple Maturity Program at Michigan State University. The page referenced by the hyperlink provides access to a PDF copy of the document that can be freely download.

Starch indexing for RubyMac® utilized the Cornell scale found in Predicting Harvest Date Windows for Apples by Blanpied and Silsby (1992).

Because of low crop set throughout our usual sampling regions, we are indebted to the following orchards for sacrificing fruit each week to make these reports possible:

• In Adams County, Penn State wishes to thank Hollabaugh Bros., Inc., in Biglerville, and Hector Mateos in particular for his assistance.
• In Berks County, Penn State wishes to thank Keim Orchard and Frecon Farms in Boyertown, and Ben Keim and Steve Frecon especially for their collaboration.

Their kindness and generosity deserves acknowledgement.

Conclusions

Commercial fruit growers, please note: apple maturity conditions need to be monitored at a local level within one's own orchard. Before chemical products are applied, be sure to comply with current federal, state, and local usage regulations and examine the product label. Product information can be easily obtained online from CDMS.

This series of updates is made possible by a State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP) Extension Grant (Pennsylvania Apple Maturity Program). The authors thank SHAP for the funding and thank the growers participating in these updates and allowing access to their orchards to sample fruit.