Most white peaches leave me flat (Indian Free is an exception) because they are flat- that is, low-acid. I like low acid fruit but it needs to be above about 15% sugar for it not to be bland to me. Silver Gem has a nice acid kick. For such an early fruit it is good quality, even this wet year. The flesh is beautiful with lots of red with the white, which may also make it healthier than something straight white.
Nectarines are harder to keep from rotting than peaches in the humid regions and this monsoon year Iām even getting rot on trees that had been sprayed with Indar 2 weeks before, for the first time, while my peaches have been OK, although with a bit of rot, withoutfungicide since my last insecticide spray in May. Nects are also cracking a lot and peaches and nectarines almost all have split pits so far.
I agree nectarines are more difficult than peaches, but to me the taste is far superior, plus I hate the fuzz on peaches. Because of the late freeze this year I have almost no fruit, however I had 6 Loring peaches, and I let them get fully ripe on the tree and letting aside the skin, which I peal on peaches, they were very good. I canāt measure brix, but they were quite sweet, better than my redhavens. Thanks for the response, I think I will go ahead with the silver gem. By the way if you prefer that more traditional nectarine flavor, fantasia , at least as grown here, are awesome.
You can rub the fuzz off. Get a coarse cloth in one hand and using the other hand spin each part of the fruit on the cloth. They usually come out pretty smooth.
I had rot on my nects for about ten years in a row, so I went on the warpath this year ā Iāve done maybe four Indar sprays which also included sulphur, Regalia, and sometimes myclobutanil (for apples but put in same tank for convenience). Amazingly, I am getting zero rot on the nectarines I am harvesting now, four different varieties currently. It wasnāt really much extra work as I was including the stuff with Surround sprays I had to do anyway. So you can bet I will be doing this every year from here on out!
I was wondering why you were asking since I had just posted about spinosad, but that was on another thread, oops! Yes I put spinosad in most of my Surround tanks, also Bt. This year on the early peaches and plums they are about 5-10% infected with moths which is perfectly fine. The later ones are worse though.
I just saw that you use a powder form of Spinosad. The one I bought last year is liquid by Monterey. How often do you spray?
I am on a quest to find a way to bag with a high success rate than the current method. I, somehow, like to bag. Wearing a Tyvex suit plus a full face mask for summer spraying is very hot, even from someone with high tolerance to heat like me,
I donāt have a regular spray schedule, but its usually around six times per year not including dormant sprays. I am probably going to do more this year as I am spraying more in the summer, usually I stop in June pretty much.
I donāt wear any mask or suit for anything, only the general bug killers require that.
Scott, Iām glad you are getting the results Iāve usually had. Even with the problems most nects are making it here and Silver Gem has been more enjoyable to me than any peach Iāve had yet, including Gold Dust, which isnāt really better than Glenglo to my palate, but certainly more beautiful. The birds agree with me.
Carene is really good also- an intense yellow nect that wonāt soften on the tree before rotting this year- not quite low acid, but low for a nectarine. I havenāt tried softening it indoors yet because the fruit is so good and rich eaten crisp. It may be a great one to freeze. First year for any crop of this one and thereās not much fruit, but probably enough for the appraisal to be legit. I think it was bred to harvest hard for transport- like White Lady peach.
I think a major reason for the rot problem is that somehow all the rain is making nectarines ripen unevenly. I have to pick them as soon as any part of them are soft. Either that or eat them with a side order of Indar because it would probably require spraying within a week of harvest to keep BR down so far this year. Weāve had a pretty dry week, though, and brix seems to be ticking up. Hopefully BR will be ticking down.
Has anyone tried Jade, a white nectarine? One of the growers at the farmerās market sometimes brings me a bag of 2nds and this week it was Jade and Eastern Glo.
Jade- very good for this season. It helped that it was perfectly ripened. 10-13 brix, strong flavor and rose scent, and a nice kick of acid (though not overpowering). Iāll ask him how the tree is next week, but this seems like a good early one.
Eastern Glo- 9-13 brix. Not bad, but Jade was better. Was a bit too acid, for these brix levels.
I also got some Harrow Diamonds from him, but they werenāt 2nds so they can probably use a day on the counter.
It sounds like I need to do something like that if I want to get any TangOs. I sprayed them with Immunox & Triazicide in the spring and MFF in early July, but within a week of that spray I was seeing a lot of rot. Maybe if I spray in mid june with MFF, I can stop some of the BR before it gets going, as it was in early July when I removed rotten fruit and sprayed.
@scottfsmith, when do Carmen ripen for you relative to Red Haven? I have a few on my 2nd year tree that donāt look ripe yet, but Iām guessing they arenāt too far off.
I have first-leaf trees of Emeraude and Zephyr from the same series as Jade. I decided to skip Jade as itās supposed to ripen in exactly the same window as Snow Queen, which I already have.
I have a Jade right now- a 4 year tree I took out of my nursery and put in my orchard before last season so this year it is plugged in an loaded with nects- about half pretty cracked, but thatās the way itās going this season so far. I left some on last season as it was one of my few trees with crop but the tree was recovering from transplant. The fruit seemed promising enough although it cracked like dried clay last year also. The fruit is larger than the somewhat earlier Silver Gem and I will let you know if it is as good. It is just a couple days away. I just ate another SG and was blown away. Very clingy but soooo good. Beautiful too.
It wouldnāt surprise me if thatās what the guy from the farmerās market tells me as well- most of the 2nds were Jade and 2 of the 3 in the above pic have cracks. Bad for Jade as a cultivar, but good for me this time. I think I like the 2nds better than what is sold, as they are usually all the way ripe and bursting with flavor rather than needing some counter-time.
Itās worth noting that he didnāt have any of either Jade or Eastern Glo to sell, at least by the time I came by. So, Iām guessing that the harvest was more limited, possibly due to the wet spring. Those nectarines look great, compared to my Mericrestā¦
Other stuff he was selling was sour cherries, Methly plums, Harrow Diamond and an unknown peach. He said that the unknown was there when they got the farm and it is similar to HD, but redder. I went with a few HD, as fruit color/appearance isnāt a big deal to me. Iām happy if there isnāt half a worm when I bite in
Edit: I had a 2nd Jade. This one hit 15 brix (1st one was upper right in the pic, 2nd was lower left), but the first had better flavor. Maybe I should have let it sit one more day. Well, Iāve got more to try over the next few days.
Jade is supposed to be free-stone, but neither of the ones I have has been. Both had split pits and the stone was well adhered to the flesh.
I just ate my first Jade. So so. Not nearly as good as Silver Gem. But then My first Silver Gem wasnāt that good this year either. I will keep you posted. The flesh is clearly not as beautiful, however.
Aalan and @BobVance,
Your Gold Dust ripens around July 15, right. I have noticed that my GD has turned red comparing to very green Autum Star around it. Maybe, I could pick the only 3 I have soon. I tried gently squeezing it but I was not gentle. So I would rather not squeeze and bruise my peaches.
My Gold Dust have been ripening here. They are not very good this year so far. Not enough sugar. Beautiful orange and red flesh and red skin. I think Glenglo is better so far but I have no use for either as long as there are ripe nectarines and apricots to eat. I may cut down Gold Dust- Iāve too many trees to manage. Could use it as a grafting tree as well.
