When to pick Bramley Apples?

c.lhoward

Hello! 

I’m new here and just wanting some advice on our apple tree. 

This is it currently. The first year we lived here we began picking them the beginning of September, but as we had just moved in I wasn’t sure whether they should have been picked earlier or later! 

Thank you in advance!! 

Fairygirl

That would be about the right time for picking, but the way to check is to take hold of the apple in your palm, and gently turn it. If it comes off without any problem, that's when it's ready. If it doesn't come away, it isn't ready.
They're certainly very far forward for mid June, but they get to be big fruits, and take time to mature.
The only time you pick fruits off early is with a young tree. That helps preserve it's energy, and it can then put that energy into getting roots well established, instead of trying to ripen fruit before it's ready for that. 

Dovefromabove

I think I’d have thinned out a few of those clusters. 

Fairygirl

Yes - they do look quite crowded. 

c.lhoward

Thank you! It’s all new to me, we moved in and it was full of apples and huge! So the following year we had it trimmed which resulted in it not producing that year. 

Should we have picked some off at the beginning then? Any advice welcome. Thank you again. 

pinut

No, don't thin out the apples when they are small - do it at a later stage, if necessary,  when they are past a certain size where the tree is unlikely to abort them. This would be a way of hedging your bets in order to maximise your crop.

Also remember that Bramley's are cooking apples so they don't have to picked only when they are fully ripe.

bertrand-mabel

Our very very old bramley was in situ when we moved in 1978. We have never pruned (apart from when one branch came down in a storm). It has always flowered and always produced fruit. Never has it had an off season. A fabulous tree and much loved by us and still going strong.