Gardenplanner

Apples on the tree before a hard freeze

A low of 28°F is forecast. Apples begin to freeze at about 28°F. A light frost doesn't hurt them, but a long or hard freeze can.

When we suggest this

  • ForecastA night at or below about 28°F is forecast for tonight or the next 2 nights.
  • Your noteYour note: stage is fruit coloring or ready to harvest.

What would stop us suggesting it

  • The morning after the forecast night passes (or when a fresh forecast no longer shows it).
  • When you mark it Done or Doesn't apply. "Doesn't fit my setup" stops it for that plant this season.

What to do

  1. Pick apples that are ripe or close to it. They can finish ripening in cool storage.
  2. Apples can usually take a few hours at about 28°F, so fruit you leave on the tree may be fine.
  3. If apples freeze on the tree, don't touch them until they've fully thawed. Handling frozen fruit bruises it.

What we can't know

  • How many apples are close to ripe.
  • How long it will stay below 28°F. Damage grows with hours of cold.

Penn State reports that apples begin to freeze at about 28–28.5°F and can take up to about 4 hours at 28°F before serious injury; SDSU advises picking nearly ripe apples when a freeze below 28°F is forecast. We trigger at 28°F or below.

Where this advice applies

All US regions.

Any US garden where a hard freeze can come before late apples are picked.

Low spots run colder than the forecast point.

Exceptions

  • Trees you've marked finished or all picked.

Related guide sections

Sources

  1. Penn State Extension. Fruit Harvest - Handling of Frozen Apples. Accessed September 25, 2026
  2. South Dakota State University Extension. It's Apple Harvesting Time!. Accessed September 25, 2026

Reviewed

Sources checked Sept 2026 · awaiting expert review

Gardenplanner research (AI-assisted), pending extension-qualified review

Rule id and version: apple.fall-freeze@1