Daily gardening tip · Northern hemisphere · Tuesday 15 September 2026 · early autumn
How to Test if Apples Are Ready to Pick
As autumn arrives, apple trees are heavy with fruit, but picking them too early stops them from ripening to their full sweetness.
5 minuteseasyharvesting
Cup a low-hanging apple gently in the palm of your hand.
Lift the fruit slightly and give it a soft, gentle twist.
Observe if the stem parts easily from the woody branch.
Leave the apple on the tree to ripen further if it resists your twist.
Place your harvested, undamaged apples gently into a basket to avoid bruising.
Why it works
When an apple matures, it naturally forms a weak layer of cells at the point where the stem meets the branch. This layer makes the ripe fruit detach easily with a gentle lift and twist, preventing damage to the tree's fruiting spurs for next year.
An evergreen rhizomatous perennial featuring dense fans of dark green, strap-like leaves. In spring, it produces clusters of vibrant trumpet-shaped orange or yellow flowers atop sturdy stalks, followed by ornamental red berries.
How plants evolved a molecular switch to cope with heat
Scientists discovered a specific protein that helps plant leaf pores stay open during high heat. Keeping these pores open lets plants cool themselves by evaporating water. This finding could help breeders produce crops that handle heatwaves better.
Ground broken for Norfolk Botanical Garden in 1938
On 15 September 1938, workers broke ground on the site that became Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia. A workforce funded by the Works Progress Administration cleared 75 acres of swamp to plant the garden's initial azaleas and shrubs.
