Northwest Michigan apple maturity report – September 30, 2026
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EmailApple harvest is cranking along this season. We had a big rain event September 30, which likely slowed the morning harvest.
Apple maturity testing will occur weekly for northwest Michigan beginning now 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 Northwest region, growers are moving through harvest with the recent good stretch of weather. Gala, McIntosh, and Honeycrisp harvest is underway. Fruit quality looks excellent with some recent cooler nights and sunny days.
Weather
We have had a beautiful stretch of weather this past week and weekend. The days were sunny and had that lovely golden light of fall. Daytime highs topped out in the low 70s, and overnight temperatures dropped into the mid- to high 40s to high 50s in the recent forecasts. It is supposed to be a bit cooler as we head into October, and the daytime temperature will be in the low 60s.
We did have rain on September 30, and the Enviroweather station at the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center recorded 0.4 inches of rain by early afternoon. There is more rain in the forecast on and off for this week, but Friday and the rest of the weekend looks sunny to partially sunny.
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.
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 Northwest Region
Growers are going after most varieties this week. When collecting samples, some blocks of Gala were already picked but Honeycrisp was still on the trees. However, most growers have gotten through the first pick of Honeycrisp. Color is looking excellent, and the flavor has improved over the past week.
Apples are eating well. Most fruit we tested is mature, and growers are moving through harvest as fast as they can.
Gala
Gala fruit were sampled from two locations on September 28. Red color remains similar to last week—in the high 80s. All different strains of Gala look good for color, even some of the older strains that are harder to color up. Fruit firmness is similar to last week at an average of 20.2 lbs of pressure. We were pleased that Gala fruit are still firm and the firmness has not moved much over the last few weeks. Starch is an average of 4.8 this week compared to 3.8 last week. Sugars are an average of 11.3 °Brix, and these numbers are similar to last week.
|
Collection Date |
Red Color (%) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Aug 25 |
33% (15-60) |
23.1 (22.5-23.5) |
1.0 |
8.9 (8.1-9.6) |
|
Sept 1 |
67.2% (30-95) |
22.6 (21-23) |
1.4 (1-7) |
9.8 (8.4-12.7) |
|
Sept 8 |
73.1% (15-100) |
21.9 (18.5-23) |
1.3 (1-4) |
10.2 (8.4-14.1) |
|
Sept 14 |
85.1% (20-100) |
20.4 (19-23) |
2.4 (1-6) |
11.1 (9.4-12.9) |
|
Sept 21 |
88.3% (50-100) |
20.3 (18-22) |
3.8 (1-8) |
11.6 (9.2-12.9) |
|
Sept 28 |
87.8% (70-100) |
20.2 (17-21.5) |
4.9 (3-8) |
11.3 (9.9-12.4) |
Honeycrisp
Growers are continuing to harvest this variety now. Average pressure has dropped to an average of 15.2 lbs compared to 16.5 lbs last week, and starch rating was 5.7, which is up from last week’s 4.9 start removal average. Sugars are at 11.9 °Brix this week. Honeycrisp are juicy and the color looks good on many blocks we sampled. As noted last week, Honeycrisp are eating much better than earlier in the season.
|
Collection Date |
Red Color (%) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Aug 25 |
35.3% (5-80) |
23.1 (22.5-23.5) |
1.2 (1-4) |
10.1 (9.5-14.6) |
|
Sept 1 |
39.1% (5-60) |
20.8 (16-23) |
1.7 (1-7) |
11.1 (8.7-13.8) |
|
Sept 8 |
50.7% (5-90) |
18.3 (21-23) |
2.4 (1-8) |
11.1 (8.4-14.1) |
|
Sept 14 |
53.9 (10-95) |
18.5 (13.5-23) |
2.9 (1-7) |
11.0 (8.4-12.4) |
|
Sept 21 |
60.4% (20-95) |
16.5 (13-21) |
4.6 (1-7) |
11.3 (8.6-14.4) |
|
Sept 28 |
64.8% (20-95) |
15.2 (13-19) |
5.7 (4-8) |
11.9 (9.1-15.8) |
McIntosh
All McIntosh in our region were harvested, so we had no apples to test this week.
|
Collection Date |
Red Color (%) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 1 |
42.5% (20-60) |
19.5 (16.5-23) |
1.5 (1-2) |
9.7 (9-11) |
|
Sept 8 |
67.6% (30-100) |
19.0 (16.5-22.5) |
1.5 (1-2) |
9.7 (8.7-10.5) |
|
Sept 14 |
62.2% (5-100) |
18.3 (15.5-22) |
2.6 (1-4) |
10.0 (8.4-12.4) |
|
Sept 21 |
40% (0-80) |
16.2 (13-18.5) |
4.9 (3-7) |
10.3 (8.5-11.2) |
Evercrisp
We have a block of Evercrisp at the station, so we took a few samples from our trees here. The color is pretty low on this variety, only 56% color showing now. The firmness was an average of 20.5. We were all surprised at this low firmness reading for this time in the season. Other growers in other parts of the state are starting or thinking about starting Evercrisp harvest, so maybe this variety is further along this year than in years past. We have harvested Evercrisp at the beginning of November, and the fruit is still extremely hard. Starch removal average was 1.8, and the brix is already climbing at 12.4. Some individual fruit were testing as high as 14.7
|
Collection Date |
Red Color (%) |
Firmness (lbs) |
Starch (1-8) |
Soluble Solids (°Brix) |
|
Sept 28 |
56% (40-80) |
20.5 (20-21) |
1.8 (1-4) |
12.4 (10.1-14.7) |
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 |