Orchard and Fruit Tree Record
Keep a history for every tree, so the one that never crops and the one that carries the whole harvest are both on paper rather than in your head.
GR-06 1 page
Growing results and crops · GR-25
Fruit Harvest Maturity Test Record
A free printable fruit ripeness test record: dated samples for each variety with colour, firmness, sugar or starch if tested, taste and a pick decision.
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2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Judge picking dates on what the fruit shows rather than the calendar. Five varieties, several test dates each, with the picking dates and how the fruit kept written underneath.
Who it is for
Gardeners and small orchard owners with apples, pears, plums or other tree fruit, and community orchards picking for storage or juice.
How to use it
- Write each variety and its tree or row in a tinted band, with the date it was picked last year if you know it.
- On each test date cut a few fruit from different sides of the tree and record what you see, in your own words or scale.
- Add a sugar or starch reading only if you have the kit, and name the kit at the top.
- Write the decision each time, then the picking dates and how the fruit kept in the strip under that variety.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: Dated ripeness tests for each variety, written down as you make them: colour, seed, firmness, readings if you take them, how the fruit comes away and how it tastes, with the pick decision on the same line.
Your fruit, your readings. On each test date cut a few fruit from different sides of the tree and describe what you see in your own words or your own scale. No colour, firmness, sugar or starch target is printed: each depends on the fruit, the variety and the kit. Compare each date with the one before, and with last year's sheet.
Write-on lines: Orchard or garden · Season · Testers used, if any
Also printed: Date · Fruit · Ground · Seed · Firmness · Sugar · Starch · Comes away · Taste · Decision · no. cut · colour · hand or tester · if read · if tested · easily, tug · wait, some, all · Variety · Tree or row · Fruit type · Picked last year · Picked: first · main · last · Stored where · Kept until
Page 2
Also printed: Date · Fruit · Ground · Seed · Firmness · Sugar · Starch · Comes away · Taste · Decision · no. cut · colour · hand or tester · if read · if tested · easily, tug · wait, some, all · Variety · Tree or row · Fruit type · Picked last year · Picked: first · main · last · Stored where · Kept until
Ruled lines: Notes: how the samples were taken, storage losses, what to do differently
Questions
Why is there no ripeness chart or target reading?
Because the right ground colour, firmness, sugar or starch result differs by fruit, by variety and by what the fruit is for, and a printed figure would be wrong for most trees. Write what you see and read; the comparison that matters is with the last test date and with last year's sheet.
Do I need a refractometer or a starch test?
No. Ground colour, seed colour, how easily the fruit comes away and taste are enough for most gardens. If you do use a tester, write its readings in its own units and use it the way its instructions say.
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