It takes at least 4-5 years of cropping before you can judge a variety’s behavior and quality.
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I’m sure that applies to flavor and perhaps size. Cracking is a seasonal weather phenomenon in general, though different varieties are more prone to cracking than others.
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I had varieties crack some years and not others, with no significant difference in rain level, but perhaps timing was a little different.
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“Just amazed how the leaves are able to support so many fruits”
Its not about what the leaves will support as much as it is what the quality of the fruit is going to be when ripe.
While you can leave more apricots on than peaches you dont want to treat them like cherries.
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My Robada Apricots are stunning this year!
I never thought that apricots would do well in Coastal Virginia . . . but they seem to thrive. Maybe because they are an early fruit. ?
The Harcots and Hoyt Montrose are still immature. Much much smaller. At least half the size of Robada.
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Hi Pom! Boy, that is fast. I checked the dates on my apricots for harvest and its between July 2-8. And I’m three and a half zones warmer than you are. My apricots are medium size now and still very green. Wow! Yours are beautiful!
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Hi MrsG. Thanks! I think these Robadas must be an early variety. ? The Harcots and HoytMontroses are quite a bit behind them. I love the color of these Robadas! I picked one, that had a ‘start of softness’ . . . to see how far along it was. It was sweet - but would have been sweeter if I’d left it on the tree for awhile longer.
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They are really beautiful.
If something’s known for a aborting fruitlets, would it be a good idea to not thin it or will it be more likely to hold onto the fruits if you do thin it?
What I do is that I wait a few weeks till it drops a lot of the fruitlets and then thin afterwards. The trees will still need to be thinned after they drop fruitlets on their own.
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Hi. My Harcots were behind my Robadas, and have started to ripen. They are much smaller - but I think that they taste more like an apricot. They’re getting a pretty red blush. Lovely fruit. Still not any kind of really bold apricot flavor, though. Now the Hoyt Montrose have just begun to get some color. Maybe they will be more ‘apricotty’ ? Will let you know.
These are the Harcots.
These are the little Hoyt Montrose.
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Why are you netting it? Rabbits?
no when i planted it last year something was eating the leaves and had no idea what so was recommended to net it and hey presto it seems to have worked
Follow up on my apricots. Very maddening. I grafted 3 varieties to my little apricot tree. Robada. Harcot. Hoyt Montrose. So far - I would say that Harcot has the most flavor, but even that is disappointing. And we’ve had a LOT of rain over the last few days - causing the ripening Hoyt Montroses to crack, so I pulled the compromised ones. Mealy ! And no flavor at all !
Everyone says that it takes a couple of years to get a tree’s best fruit . . . but these are almost worse than the grocery version. Any ideas? They just don’t like Virginia? Too much water? Wrong varieties?
They all look beautiful . . . but so lacking in flavor.
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Too much water.
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My green cots are dropping like gangbusters now.
After several years of bad/no crops I let the trees grow too high to thin.
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Good to know. Thanks.
My bet is also on too much water at the ripening time.
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Will take pictures today. My apricots started to fall yesterday. They are so sweet and delicious. Making a tart for friends tonight.
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