Cracks in the fruit cuticle can form soon after bloom (back), exposing the underlying hypodermal cells to air, stimulating a wound response that results in russet (front). When apples have bad skin, they’re less appealing to customers, so defective fruit has to be sorted out and diverted to the processing or cull fruit bins. What can you do to send fewer apples that direction? Dr. Steve McArtney, the Southeastern apple specialist at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, North Carolina, addressed four fruit skin problems—and their causes and control—in speaking to New York fruit growers […]