Getting my first nectarines on NectaZee and Arctic Babe! But I’m not sure when the ideal time to pick them is. When do you harvest your nectarines?
The Arctic Babes started getting soft on the tree and have been mealy and not great. Possibly suffering from brown rot too. I was thinning the nectazee due to limbs drooping and left the rock hard fruits in my garage for a few days, then noticed they smelled great and they were delicious! So made me wonder if I need to pick them all when firm or hard even? It’s possible arctic babe is just not all that good…the NectaZee has been amazing though.
I like my nectarines as soon as they start to soften on the tree. That’s when they are sweetest and have the most flavor. But some people like them a week or two sooner when they are still crunchy. Actually, I like both but harvest most as soon as they soften just a bit.
Try them both ways and see which you prefer.
I haven’t tried Arctic Babe. It may be inferior or over ripe or over watered.
My only experience is with Harko and for me they have a very short shelf life. The window of perfect ripeness is very small. That’s a problem for me. I pick them too soon and they are not sweet. Picking them as they start to soften and they rot a few days after picking. When they soften after picking and the insides are starting to get discolored they are at their peak being sweet and delicious. The next day they are rotting. Again my limited experience has me picking them a day or two before they are getting soft. Pick them when they give just a little when squeezed. Not when rock hard. It’s an effort getting it right.
I should mention my Harko doesn’t get as many hours of sun as I would like (6 to 7 hrs and cloudy days) and that may have something to do about it.
I’d like to know of a variety that tastes great when still a little hard and has a longer shelf life.
I like them soft, so I keep them on all of my 10 nectarine trees, for as long as possible, preferring they drop or fall when I just breathe on them.
If the weather is going to get over 85 degrees when they are close to perfect ripeness, only they do I pick some earlier as strong heat for days makes them mealy
I pick them when the nectarine scent can be detected as I approach the tree, when they don’t resist a light pull, and when the ground color has turned from green to yellow. At that point, they’re still firm and take a couple of days to soften.
If I wait longer, the wasps are into them. If I see wasps, I start picking.
