mum light interception. It is our experience that hand thin- 

 ning pays for itself in higher fruit quality, larger fruit size, 

 and better packout. 



Fruit Size Strategies 



Gala naturally is a medium to small sized apple. Spe- 

 cial efforts are required to produce large Gala apples. Any 

 cultural activity that increases spur leaf area will increase 

 fruit size. Work in New Zealand suggests that increasing 

 the number of fruit borne on short shoots is important. Work 

 in Massachusetts suggests that fruit size on two- and three- 

 year-old spurs is comparable to fruit size on short shoots as 

 long as leaf area is comparable. Good chemical and hand 

 thinning is critical. Maintaining proper vigor of the tree is 

 important. Attention to thinning, ground cover manage- 

 ment, all aspects of pruning, fertilization, and pest man- 

 agement as it influences leaf quality are all required. 



Harvest 



Gala has the reputation for requiring several harvests. 

 To a certain extent this is true. Proper pruning to position 

 fruit in the appropriate light and good chemical thinning 

 followedby hand thinning will reduce the number of har- 

 vests. Using these techniques we have been able to reduce 

 the number of harvests required for Gala to just two. 



Careful attention to the proper time of harvest is im- 

 portant. Gala can mature through the proper time of har- 

 vest very rapidly. Blocks should be monitored frequently 

 as harvest approaches. Red color is a very poor indicator 

 of maturity. Starch charts have a limited use. Careful moni- 

 toring of ground color is undoubtedly the best method. We 



developed a ground color chart several years ago using 

 Pantone color charts. It appears to be a very reliable pre- 

 dictor of the proper time of harvest. On this chart half way 

 between green and yellow, nearly white, appears to be the 

 proper stage of maturity to harvest Gala. 



Storage 



Gala is not a long storing apple. There is a noticeable 

 loss of condition in storage after two months. It also loses 

 much of the aromatic character after extended storage. Gala 

 can be kept in CA storage but the atmospheres used can 

 kill the enzyme responsible for giving Gala the character- 

 istic aromatic flavor and fruitiness. It is not the same apple 

 out of CA storage. 



One of the parents of Gala is Golden Delicious. Like 

 Golden Delicious, Gala shrivels in storage. We have seen 

 unacceptable shriveling in regular storage after one month. 

 The length of time before shriveling starts to occur depends 

 upon the year, and presumably wax components in and on 

 the skin. Gala should be stored in plastic bags, similar to 

 those used for Golden Delicious. 



Hardiness 



The 1994 winter was a test winter. In general Gala 

 proved to be hardier than anticipated. We would charac- 

 terize it as neither tender nor very hardy. However, Gala is 

 incredibly sensitive to cold temperature in the spring. If 

 leaves are damaged by frost, fruit set will be reduced. Gala 

 is the most sensitive cultivar I have seen to cold tempera- 

 ture, once buds start to swell and leaf tissue expands. Plant 

 Gala on sites that are not prone to spring frosts. 



vl> •^ •X* •S^ *^ 



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Fruit Notes, Winter, 1995 



13 



