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HOME FRUIT GROWING-- Tree Fruit Growth Stages

Not only are the stone and pome fruits different inside, they develop differently from each other, but similarly within each grouping. So, for instance, the apples and pears share similar stages from bloom to fruit. These stages may be seen as “phenological’, as they respond to and vary with season and climate. Some of the key stages of stone and pome fruits, and their terms, are good to know since you’ll hear or see them in relation to plant culture, and in particular to watching for insects and diseases.

One example of watching these stages is important to northern tree fruit growers. As flower buds develop further, they are more susceptible to cold from late spring frosts. While apple buds in the silver tip stage aren’t damaged until temperatures drop to 16°F, they begin to be damaged at 28°F in the pink stage, with most killed at 25°F in the pink stage.

Professionals and commercial growers get into more depth, with up to 9 divisions and over 50 subdivisions of development that they monitor. For the home fruit orchard, the following main stages for apples and peaches, as examples of pome and stone fruits, should be sufficient. Other fruits in each group are similar. A good visual guide for each main fruit can be found online from Cornell University .

Apples	Peaches	What happens
Silver tip	Bud swell	Buds swell and turn fuzzy silver from emerging leaves
Green tip	Bud burst	Green leaves begin to emerge from tips of buds
Half-inch green	half-inch green	Specific amount of leaves are now visible, folding backwards as they emerge, resembling the other name for this stage in apples—“mouse ears”
Tight cluster		Young apple leaves are now emerged and folded backward, revealing a tight flower cluster; buds are more sensitive to cold now
Pink	Pink	Flower buds have grown sufficiently to reveal the petal color
Open cluster		Apple flower buds are now distinctly separate
King bloom	First bloom	The center or “King” bloom of apples opens first, before the several buds surrounding it; it usually produces the best fruit; first bloom opens in peaches
Full bloom	Full bloom	80% or more of the flowers are open
Petal fall	Petal fall	Petals are raining down from the tree, carpeting the ground; when all the petals are off peach trees, the fruit is “in the shuck”
	Shuck split	When the enlarging peach fruit splits the shuck—the dried remaining floral parts around the forming fruit
	Pit hardening	You can’t see this but must cut the peach in half to see if the pit has become hardened
Fruit set	Fruit set	Young fruit begin to be seen; growers then measure various stages as they develop for apples, less for peaches; when apples are about 1/4- to 1/2-inch across is the best time to thin for best fruit development
	Red color	Peaches begin to change from yellow to red
Harvest	Harvest	This varies with the cultivar, season, and number of fruit on the tree; for peaches this is divided into first harvest, then general harvest for multiple pickings