Split like this but no rot yet.
1 Like
Thank you. This makes things very promising. I’m very happy to hear this. I took a chance on Nectafest and was starting to regret having put it in over a sure thing. There’s no fruits on it yet, but I hope to get a big crop next year.
The Contender I put in at the same time has some fruit this year and right now it looks spotless after only one spray of a triazicide/immunox blend after petal fall.
The only thing is that it cracked more than Silver Gem or my other early whites. Also more than the Summer Beauts coming in now, which are the most pristine nects I’ve probably ever grown.
Was the fruit thinned? I’m a bit worried about a lot of the plums I have coming in later that I know I didn’t thin enough. For the Euros I was expecting PC to do more of it for me but I lost almost nothing to them this year.
I’m really sorry that my child did such a poor job of serving you this year and also a bit mystified that our weather differences have, so far, caused such and dramatic contrast in the quality of our fruit. In the past, your brix readings have been much higher than mine, but mine have never been nearly as low as yours since I started measuring it.
Did the sun come out for you today- it turned out to be much sunnier here than forecast.
1 Like
No thinning. As I mentioned, no thining + lot of rain+ few sunny days has been a perfect storm for this Early Magic.
Today has been mostly cloudy. The sun is peaking out right now at around 4 pm, hazy sun (or lazy sun?). Tomorrow early morning we may get a bit of rain and the rest of Mon will be cloudy.
That is much different than what’s been here even though our forecasts have been similar. It’s been hazy but mostly sunny since mid-morning. Maybe that’s been the trend this season- must be.
I should probably mention that I have one client who I’m very fond of but that I forgot to thin his plums and early peaches for. His Shrio plums bore a light crop and were very good. His Methely set like grapes would if they did so all along their vines and the fruit was utter crap. So were his Summer Pearl peaches which was the one variety I didn’t get to, although they probably would have been crap anyway. But a client nearby whose Methely we thinned had sweet and pretty good fruit.
When I say I didn’t thin adequately, that isn’t to say I didn’t remove the majority of the fruit, it’s just that the fruit got larger than normal this year and even if it hadn’t I wish I’d thinned about twice as much. The Early Majic I spoke of that got up to 20 brix set a very light crop, although they were about as good on nursery trees, but they weren’t over layden either- about right. However, the 17 Santa Rosas were pretty tightly spaced, but not ridiculous.
Not thinning could have played some role with your plums, at least. Peaches probably couldn’t be helped.
My Summer Beauts are just finishing up. I think I have the right variety but it makes me wonder a bit if I am overlapping with you, Alan. My brix has been good, 14-15. Flavortop will ripen soon, it is usually a bit better than Summer Beaut.
2 Likes
My SB is crazy vigorous and deprived of a couple hours morning sun compared to others on my property, besides Late Liz. It certainly produces a lot of beautiful fruit. My orchard is in a hollow with forest trees just outside the property line (I’ve removed most of the big trees on my property over the years), so compared to dawn to dusk sun it’s at a disadvantage. The hollow aspect also increases rot pressure due to protection from winds and breezes, I assume. But the site has never gotten damaging hail and tornadoes seem to skip the spot. It’s also relatively warm on those raw winter days when the north wind is biting, even though the hollow holds cold air when it’s still.
Nice site, but not perfect for an orchard. Working at so many sites has helped me understand my own. But this forum has allowed me another venue for comparisons.
3 Likes
A little better than Long Island. Zero sun and 2 inches rain Sunday. Still raining this morning and no forecast of sun today.
I just tested a Honeyblaze that managed to ripen on the tree without yellow jackets drilling into it and starting rot while still hard and it reached 22. The fruit from my new orchard with its relatively steep slope and dry soil seems to be superior to that growing on moister parts of my property. Way too early though as this is only the second season since they were transplanted there. I believe root pruning also can elevate brix.
2 Likes
Just measured a Starfire peach from a overly crowded tree, but it got light where the fruit was- on the top of it. It came in at a solid 14 which is as good as non low acid peaches are likely to get on my property. Texture was great and flesh color beautiful orange-red the way many of the newer varieties seem to be. I’m guessing particularly high in vitamin A and anti-oxidants but also tasty. It just bumped out Red Haven from my nursery as I’ve also bee tasting other fruit from it on the nursery trees and I think this one is better than RH.
Also a dull skinned Summer Beaut nect just an eyelash below 15. I’m saving the dull skinned ones- they always are the sweetest. .
1 Like
So far my Satsuma seem about worthless- big overloaded tree. I thinned but intended to come back and do it again- not nearly good enough. This year it’s official, I’m spread way to thin.
At least I did a decent job on my apples and nectarines and they are what’s most important to me.
1 Like
Satsuma loves to overset for me… probably its biggest detraction. I had too many last year. This year it set a light crop after last year’s big load, the few I got were wonderful.
Speaking of good intentions regarding thinning, I kept meaning to hit my Veteran 2 or 3 more times. Didn’t do it. Now I have to prop up the branches.
4 Likes
I chose an Sunglo nectarine with that dull look that suggests hibrix and it registered at 16. That’s a delicious nect for me when an acidic one gets to 15 or above. Sunglo has never been a fav but I removed a big ash that took a lot of its sun since the last harvest, so I probably under-estimated it. It’s distinctly better than Summer Beaut, but SB gets more eastern shade and has too much good soil around its roots. Huge harvest of beautiful fruit, though. Mostly in the 11-14 range.
1 Like
I was at a client’s orchard yesterday doing a last spray to provide him pristine fruit- some people don’t want to see even cosmetic blemishes. There were some ripe nectarines and trying one I was amazed at the level of sweetness. Only the honey, low-acid series on my property reaches the level they’ve obtained this year. I gave one to my helper and he thought it was almost too sweet. At first I thought it was the variety, but then i sampled one of his Red Haven peaches, and it was about the sweetest peach I’ve ever eaten. I took a nectarine home and measured it- 20 brix!
I have sampled the same peaches from his orchard in past years and they weren’t like his are this one. I’ve also sampled lots of fruit from orchards with dawn to dusk sun as his has and the brix elevation over my fruit was not as apparent.
Don’t get me wrong, once a nectarine gets above 15, it is just about as good as it can be to my palate, and I can probably eat a lot more of them and maybe even tire of them less it the brix doesn’t get up above about 18 but it sure is interesting how much the site affects the quality of fruit and how much it varies from season to season.
2 Likes
A Redgold nect from my tree pushing 15 from flesh on the ripest part of fruit. Lots of shady days and rain in the last week.
2 Likes
Measured a delicious PF-28 peach today that reached 14 brix. Don’t need a peach to be any sweeter. I also measured a Valor plum that reached 22, which is also enough sugar to make it perfectly delicious. The PH28 had good but not perfect texture which is typical of Sept peaches here. Firm and not melting but juicy. Cusp of perfect. The Valor is as good as a plum can be for my palate.