When most people think of harvesting, they’re thinking about the physical act of taking fruit clippers and harvest shears, removing the fruit from the tree, and tossing them into a tote or a picking bag. And while you can’t argue that that’s not harvesting, there’s so much that goes into harvesting that the average person just doesn’t know about. As long as the apples and oranges end up in the grocery store, that’s really what they care about most!

But if you work for an orchard, you know that there’s so much more that goes into harvesting. Today we’re going to talk about some of the harvesting tools and equipment that are most used before and after the fruit is separated from the tree.

Fruit Testing Supplies

Deciding whether or not fruit is ready to be harvested goes well beyond looking at it. In fact, with most fruit even tasting it won’t work, because if it’s ripe today then it will be overripe by the time it gets to market. The best way to make sure that your fruit is ready to be picked is via scientific methods. This fruit testing equipment can tell you so much about the right time to harvest.

Penetrometers - The readiness of fruit can be determined by how hard the skin is. Penetrometers are measuring tools that let you know just how ripe the fruit is. Simply press the meter against the fruit skin, and the gauge will tell you the amount of pressure you used to puncture the skin. These can be used in the field or attached to a drill press in the lab for added accuracy, and we even carry a penetrometer on a stand when you need the most accurate results possible. Frostproof Growers Supply carries two different penetrometers, one for hard fruits (apples, pears) and one for softer fruits (peaches, oranges, other citrus).

Refractometers - Knowing the sugar content of a fruit can let you know the perfect time to harvest. This refractometer does exactly that, giving you information regarding the perfect days on which to harvest your particular orchard fruit. It’s easy to use in the field, because it automatically adjusts for temperature changes.

Fruit Sizers - If you work in an orchard, you probably have a pretty good idea of how big the fruit should be before you harvest it. But “a pretty good idea” isn’t good enough when there are hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. That’s why you should use a fruit sizer, which allows you to take accurate measurements to the 1/16” (or millimeters if you are using metric). This type of tool not only helps with harvesting but can also be used for experimentation. If you are comparing different trees based on the amount of fertilizer or water they get, this can tell you exactly which tree is growing larger fruit and by how much.

Harvesting Supplies

Now that the fruit is harvested, you can put away the fruit testing and bring out the calculation tools.

Ticket Punchers - When you need to tally the number of crates, totes, or bags coming in from the field, it’s important that each worker gets credit for the amount of fruit they’ve picked. These harvest ticket punchers are an excellent way to keep perfect track of a worker’s tally. Because these ticket punchers have a randomly-selected design on them and that there are over 450 designs in production, they’re almost impossible to duplicate.

Tally Counters - It’s always a good idea to have these tally counters around an orchard, whether it’s a single handheld unit or one that’s mounted to a workstation. Simply click these counters whenever you’re tallying something, whether it’s the pieces of fruit coming off a single tree, the pieces leftover that can’t be picked by traditional means, or the number of crates that are ready to be picked up by a truck. Each counter counts up to 9999 and then resets to 0000, or you can reset them with the twist of the dial.

Frostproof Has What You Need

Whether you’re approaching the harvest or already have the workers in the field, Frostproof Growers Supply is ready to help you make everything go a smooth as it possibly can. Click those links above to get the harvesting supplies and equipment you need!