West central Michigan apple maturity report – October 7, 2026
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EmailRed color and brix improved this week in the west central region. Fall has settled in, and red color development and sugars are very good for late season varieties.
Apple maturity testing will occur weekly for the west central region through the end of harvest. Reports will be sent out every week, following the Michigan State University Extension fruit team apple maturity calls on Wednesday mornings.
In the west central region, some growers are harvesting Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Idared, and Crispin this week. EverCrisp, Fuji, and Pink Lady are mature at some sites. Red color, size, and brix have continued to improve. Growers are balancing internal fruit maturity with red color development and harvest timing for other varieties.
Weather
Weather has been excellent for harvest with dry conditions and beautiful sunny days. Fall has certainly set in, and leaves are starting to abscise and fall in forest trees. There have been multiple chilly mornings with lows dipping down into the upper 30s on October 5 according to the Hart Enviroweather station.
Moderate temperatures and sunny conditions will continue this week with high temperatures in the 60s and low temperatures in the 40s and 50s. There will be a slight warm up over the weekend with highs reaching the 70s and lows will be in the 50s. Chances of rain are low over the next few days, and rain is in the forecast for overnight Monday through Wednesday next week.
How to read maturity tables
Each week, an apple maturity report will be provided and will include average values for several apple samples for varieties nearing maturity. Maximum and minimum values are included in tables below for the highest and lowest individual fruits evaluated for each, to give a full spectrum of maturity. Samples included in the reports have been untreated with ReTain or Harvista, unless otherwise noted. Samples were collected from 1-4 locations in Oceana County.
For more information about apple maturity testing, review these resources compiled by the MSU Extension tree fruit team.
- Predicted apple harvest dates for 2026 from MSU.
- More information on harvest management tools and timings can be found in this article.
- Guidelines from MSU to check for apple maturity in your own orchard, including specific pressure and starch recommendations by variety.
- New starch charts for evaluating apple maturity in Michigan from Michigan State University
- Predicting apple maturity and starch chart from Cornell University.
- Starch chart for Honeycrisp Apples developed by Washington State University.
Maturity information for the West Central region
Note that apple maturity is occurring earlier than normal this season with variability between orchard blocks and sites. Be sure to test maturity block by block for each variety. Young trees are maturing more quickly than older trees.
Red Delicious
Fruit were sampled from two locations on October 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight was 197 g, and fruit size continues to improve. Average red color development is 92%, and background color is yellow at 1.3. Pressure is 16.8 lbs, and starch rating is 1.3. Sugars markedly improved and are at 12.8 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 3.01 in, and fruit are mature and could be harvested for short- or mid-term CA storage based on pressure recommendations in the table below.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 21 |
148 (168-125) |
91 (100-50) |
1.9 (3-1) |
18.0 (21.8-16.0) |
1.9 (3-1) |
11.0 (12.6-10) |
|
Sept 28 |
182 (188-177) |
88 (100-60) |
2.2 (3-1) |
18.4 (20.0-16.4) |
2.2 (3-1) |
11.8 (12.0-11.6) |
|
Oct 5 |
197 (221-173) |
92 (99-80) |
1.3 (2-1) |
16.8 (20.6-14.4) |
2.5 (4-1) |
12.8 (13.1-12.4) |
Crispin/Mutsu
Fruit were sampled from only one location on October 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight was 388 g. The pink blush was similar to last week at 19% on average. Background color is green at 3.2. Pressure is 17.5 lbs, and starch rating is 2.8. Sugars are at 12.6 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 3.7 in, and fruit are still immature.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 21 |
274 (338-192) |
19 (41-7) |
3.8 (4.2-3.6) |
19.9 (23.5-17.3) |
1.7 (2.0-1.1) |
11.7 (12.8-11.0) |
|
Sept 28 |
375 (430.5-318.5) |
17 (20-14) |
3.6 (4.1-3.1) |
18.655 (18.72-18.59) |
2.2 (2.2-2.1) |
12.5 (12.6-12.4) |
|
Oct 5 |
388 |
19 |
3.2 |
17.5 |
2.8 |
12.6 |
*Fruit was sampled from one site on October 5.
Idared
Fruit were sampled from four locations on October 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight was 157 g. The reduction in weight compared to last week is due to variation in sampling sites. Average red color development is 85%, and background color is yellow green at 2.7. Pressure is 16.1 lbs, and starch rating is 3.5. Sugars are at 12.8 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 2.8 in, and fruit are mature and could be harvested for long-term storage according to the table below.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 21 |
166 (202-139) |
71 (95-40) |
3.2 (4-2) |
18.4 (21.5-14.6) |
1.5 (2-1) |
11.3 (11.6-11.0) |
|
Sept 28 |
176 (219-138) |
75 (99-40) |
2.7 (3.5-1) |
17.6 (19.7-15.1) |
2.7 (4-1) |
11.7 (12.0-11.0) |
|
Oct 5 |
157 (170-131) |
85 (99-55) |
2.2 (3.5-1) |
16.1 (18.8-13.2) |
3.5 (5-2) |
12.8 (14.0-12.1) |
Fuji
Fruit were sampled from two locations on Oct 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight was 184g. Average red color development is 86%, and background color is yellow green at 2.5. Pressure is 16.6 lbs, and starch rating is 2.9. Sugars are excellent at 12.7 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 3.0 in, and fruit are still immature on average. At some sites, fruit were mature and could be harvested for mid- or long-term CA storage.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 28 |
197 (211-184) |
74 (95-30) |
2.9 (4-2) |
17.7 (19.8-16.4) |
2.8 (5-2) |
12.4 (12.8-12.0) |
|
Oct 5 |
184 (188-178) |
86 (99-70) |
2.5 (3-1) |
16.6 (18.9-14.1) |
2.9 (4-2) |
12.7 (13.0-12.3) |
EverCrisp
Fruit were sampled from four locations on October 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight was similar to last week at 201 g. Average red color development is 72%, and background color is green at 3.0. Pressure is holding at 22.2 lbs, and starch rating is 3.0. Sugars are excellent at 14.2 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 3.0 in, and fruit are mature at some sites.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 21 |
177 (188-166) |
57 (80-30) |
3.9 (5-2) |
22.0 (25.1-20.3) |
1.7 (3-1) |
13.1 (13.6-12.6) |
|
Sept 28 |
205 (247-179) |
67 (90-30) |
3.1 (4.5-2) |
23.0 (26.1-20.1) |
2.4 (5-1) |
13.9 (15.2-13.4) |
|
Oct 5 |
201 (249-174) |
72 (90-50) |
3.0 (4-2) |
22.2 (28.0-19.5) |
3.0 (5-2) |
14.2 (15.2-13.7) |
Pink lady
Fruit were sampled from two locations on October 5 in Oceana County. Average fruit weight is 187 g. Average red color development is 67%, and background color is green at 2.3. Pressure is 17.9 lbs, and starch rating is 3.4. Sugars are excellent at 13.4 °Brix. Average fruit diameter is 3.0 in. At some sites, fruit are mature and could be harvested.
|
Collection Date |
Fruit Weight (g) |
Red Color (%) |
Background color (5-1) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 28 |
171 |
48 (70-30) |
2.7 (3-2.5) |
20.1 (21.4-17.4) |
2.5 (4-2) |
13.4 |
|
Oct 5 |
187 (188-186) |
67 (90-30) |
2.3 (3-1) |
17.9 (20.1-16.4) |
3.4 (6-1) |
13.4 (14.0-12.8) |
*Fruit were sampled from one location on Sept 28.
Apple maturity sampling parameters
- Color % = the visual percentage of red color from 0 to 100; range is of all fruits tested. Indicates surface area covered in red and intensity of red color.
- Background color: 5 = Green, 1 = Yellow; range is of all fruits tested.
- Firmness in pounds pressure = measured with a Güss Fruit Texture Analyzer; range is of all fruits tested.
- Starch For Honeycrisp: will typically be rated using the standard Michigan State University starch scale (1-8). However, a separate starch chart for Honeycrisp Apples developed by Washington State University (scale 1-6) also exists.
- Brix = % sugar measured with Atago PAL-1 Pocket Refractometer
Looking for more? View Michigan State University Extension’s Apple page for regional reports throughout the state and additional resources.
|
Suggested firmness and starch index levels for long-term and shorter-term controlled atmosphere (CA) storage by variety. |
|||||
|
Variety |
Firmness (pounds)* |
Starch Index* |
|||
|
Short CA |
Mid-CA |
Long CA |
Mature |
Over mature |
|
|
McIntosh |
14 |
15 |
16 |
5 |
7 |
|
Gala |
16 |
17 |
18 |
3 |
6 |
|
Honeycrisp |
15 |
16 |
17 |
3.5 |
6 |
|
Empire |
14 |
15 |
16 |
3.5 |
6 |
|
Early Fuji |
16 |
17 |
18 |
3 |
7 |
|
Jonagold |
15 |
16 |
17 |
3.5 |
5.5 |
|
Jonathan |
14 |
15 |
16 |
3.5 |
5.5 |
|
Golden Delicious |
15 |
16 |
17 |
3 |
6.5 |
|
Red Delicious |
16 |
17 |
18 |
2.5 |
6 |
|
Idared |
14 |
15 |
16 |
3.5 |
6 |
|
Fuji |
16 |
17 |
18 |
3 |
7 |
|
Rome |
15 |
16 |
18 |
3 |
5.5 |
|
Brix Guide |
Low |
Fair |
Good |
Excellent |
|
All varieties |
Less than 11 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
|
Honeycrisp |
Less than 12 |
12 |
12 |
Greater than 14 |